
I 

Book ^_ 



TJ7 



T 



THE 



ARMY AND NAVY 



OF 



AMERICA: 



CONTAINING 



A mW OF THE HEROIC ADVENTURES, BATTLES, NAVAL ENGAGE- 
MENTS, REMARKABLE INCIDENTS, AND GLORIOUS ACHIEVE- 
MENTS IN THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM, 



FROM THE PERIOD OF 



THE FRENCH AND INDIAN WARS TO THE 
CLOSE OF THE FLORIDA WAR ; 



INDEPENDENT OF AN ACCOUNT OF 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS ON LAND AND SEA; 



ENLIVENED BY A VARIETY OF THE MOST 



INTERESTING ANECDOTES; 



AND SPLENDIDLY 



EMBELLISHED WITH NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. 



BY JACOB K. NEFF, M.D. 



"Concordia res parvse crescunt, discordia maxims dilabanlur." 

PHILADELPHIA: 
PUBLISHED BY J. H PEARSOL & CO. 



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Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by 
J. H. PEARSOL & CO. 

in the clerk's office of the District Court of the United States for the 
Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 

__ _ 



STEREOTTPED BY J. PAGAN, FBILASELFBIA. 
PRINTED BY J. H. PEARSOL, LANCASTER. 

(2) 



PREFACE. 



The work now presented to the public is one of a peculiar character, and 
the only one that gives the reader a good idea of the battles fought in our 
country, unless he searches for a description of them through prosy and 
ponderous volumes. Too much space has hitherto been devoted to legisla- 
tive proceedings, and too little to the battles. Nor is this all. The various 
military operations are mixed together in inextricable confusion in our ordi- 
nary histories, the same chapter often containing a number of battles. We 
have corrected this, and made a chapter of every battle, to set it forth 
clearly and distinctly, connecting only those extended operations, that were 
intended to aid each other. 

Part I. — Contains the nature of campaigns — the advance — the retreat — 
the encampment of armies — together with the plans of battles ; military 
maxims, from the great generals of every age and country, illustrated by 
their own battles ; with all the manoeuvres of fleets, and war at sea. This 
part prepares the reader to understand warlike operations on land and sea ; a 
kind of information, the want of which every reader of ordinary history 
must have felt. Such an arrangement has never been attempted before, and 
in this, especially, our work differs from all others ; we hope to the advan- 
tage of the reader. 

Part II. — Gives an account of the battles of the French and Indian 
wars, which were of the greatest importance to our fathers. It was a 
struggle between France and England as to which government should rule 
the American continent. To our fathers it was important, not only because 
it would decide whether they should be ruled by the French or English, 
Catholics or Protestants, but it even decided whether they should at all 
exist as a nation. This, independent of the interesting nature of many of 
these forest battles, will make this part of the work of infinitely greater 
importance than is generally imagined. 

Independent of all this, the heroes of our revolution were nearly all 
schooled in this war. Washington himself received his first lessons of 

ill 



IV PREFACE. 

war during this period, and terrible lessons they were indeed, which pre- 
pared iiiin for those great achievements which he performed at a subse- 
quent period. Nor is this all the interest this war possesses. As taxation 
was the cause of the revolution, so this war was the cause of taxation. 

Part III. — Contains the battles of the revolution. Omitting all the more 
dull proceedings of Congress, and giving only the most important, so as to 
keep up the historical connection, we had ample space to make the descrip- 
tion of all the battles very full. These are interspersed by poetical quota- 
tions, from all the great authors of ancient and modern times. We culled 
these flowers from many a beautiful garden, to strew them into the rugged 
paths of war, and to give interest and variety to the work. This is a new 
plan ; and if the reader is willing to allow us to claim any merit for writing 
this work, we would ask it for the revolution. 

The heroes of the revolution are set forth in a more conspicuous light 
than they have ever before appeared in, and the brilliant talents of Wash- 
ington, often spoken of too lightly even by Americans, are made to appear, 
by giving a full account of those bold and mighty efforts, which were ulti- 
mately crowned with success. 

Part IV. — The late war, of which this part treats, is more distinguished 
for the numerous naval victories which the Americans gained over the most 
powerful nation that ever existed. These are all fully described, as well 
as the battles on land, fought during the same period. 

Severe and protracted indisposition rendered it necessary for us to avail 
ourselves more freely of the labours of others here than we should have 
done if in health ; but the selections were made with such care, and from 
such high and rare authorities, that we have no doubt that the reader will 
profit by this arrangement. We make this general acknowledgment here, 
for this part of the work, to throw off the odium of plagiarism. 

Part V. — Gives a general account of the Florida war; and, by sketches 
of battles, developes the general character of this Indian warfare. 

Part VI. — Closes the work by a general description of the calamities 
of war — giving examples from the wars of ancient and modern times ; 
showing, in the meantime, when war is just or tyrannical. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I. 

THE ART OF WAR. 



CHAPTER I. 

MILITAHT MAXIMS AND WAHIIKE OPERATIONS. 

Introductory Remarks. § I. Principle of Strength in an Army. II. Plan of 
Campaign — Definitions of Military Terms — Importance of Rapidity of Move- 
ment — Operations of large Masses on a single Point. III. Adaptation of Means 
to Circumstances — Genius of Napoleon. IV. Offensive Operations. V. Con- 
centration of separate Forces. VI. Modifications of original Plans. VII. Of 
supporting the Wings of an Army. VIII. Depots. IX. Various Lines of Ope- 
rations. X. Configuration of the Theatre of War — Illustrations. XI. Of pass- 
ive Defence. XII. Fortresses. XIII. Advances and Retreats. XIV. Attacks on 
both Extremities, XV. Spies. XVI. Order of Battle. XVII. Angles of Of- 
fence and Defence. XVIII. Oblique Attack. XIX. Importance of constant 
Preparation. XX. Difficulties of Commander-in-Chief. XXI. Efficacy of Va- 
lour and Discipline. XXII. Operations when inferior in Force. XXIII. Of 
acting in detached Lines — Brilliant Success of Napoleon. XXIV. Of Flank 
Attacks. XXV. Importance of a single Line of Operations. XXVI. Of Dis- 
tances between Marching Corps — Retreat of Moreau — Mountain Campaigns. 
XXVII. Of disappointing an Enemy's Wishes. XXVIII. Of the Importance of 
frequent Entrenchment — Success of the Duke of Berwick — Of Marshal Turenne. 
XXIX. Of Courage and Decision when surprised by a superior Force — Marshal 
Turenne and the Prince de Conde. XXX. Transition from Defensive to Offen- 
sive — Napoleon's first Campaigns in Italy. XXXI. Of abandoning and chang- 
ing Line of Operations — Examples of Frederick the Great and Marshal Turenne. 
XXXII. Operations with heavy Trains of Artillery, &c. XXXIII. Encamping 
in Position. XXXIV. Conduct when menaced with being surrounded. XXXV. 



VI CONTENTS. 



Proper Position of Cantonments. XXXVI. Dangers in crossing Bridges in 
Rear. XXXVII. Of employing separate Corps against a central Force — Battle 
of Hohenlinden. XXXVIII. Conduct when driven from first Position — Battle 
of Genola — Of Milesimo. XXXIX. Movements of a retreating Army. XL. 
Concentration of Forces on the Eve of Battle — Defeat of Jourdan. XLI. Duty 
of Commander previous to Battle. XLII. Of avoiding a Flank March before an 
Army in Position — Battle of Kolin — Of Rosbach. XLIII. Of Prudence in View 
of Battle — Resumption of Offensive during Retreat — Defeat of the Austrians at 
Marengo— At Torgau— Battle of Ulm— Of Jena— Of W^aterloo. XLIV. Of the 
Advanced Guard. XLV. Demosthenes and Phocion. XLVI. Disposition of 
Artillery. XL VII. Conduct of Alexander the Great. XLVIII. Of Intervals 
between Corps — Defeat of the Prince of Lorraine by Frederick — Of throwing 
Forces into the Intervals of an Enemy's Line. XLIX. Qualifications of a Gene- 
ral. L. Of Operations in the neighbourhood of a River. LI. Of the Passage 
of a River — Prince Eugene and the Duke of Savoy. LII. Of defending the Pas- 
sage of a River. LIII. of Tetes du Pont. LIV. Of Encampments. LV. Of 
Sieges. LVL Citadels. LVIL Of surrendering a Fortress. LVIIL Of Capitu- 
lations. LIX. Obedience of Soldiers. LX. Union of Infantry, Cavalry, and 
Artillery. LXI. Mingling of Infantry and Cavalry. LXII. Charges of Cavalry. 
LXIII. Duties of Cavalry. LXIV. Artillery. LXV. Batteries. LXVI. Treat- 
ment of Prisoners. LXVII. Of Prisoners of War. LXVIII. Qualifications of 
General-in-chief. LXIX. Of the Staff. LXX. Unanimity of Principle of great 
Warriors. LXXI. Battle of Waterloo Page 9—76 



CHAPTER IL 

•WAHLIKE OPERATIONS AT SKA. 

Of absolute and relative Force — Line of Battle — Modifications of naval War- 
fare — Pell-mell Actions — Various Manoeuvres — Steam Vessels — Naval Tactics — 
Ordinary Division of Fleets — Definitions of Terms — Five Orders of Sailing — 
Order of Battle — Order of Retreat — Order of Convoy — Method of Forming the 
various Orders of Sailing — To form Line of Battle — To manoeuvre in Line of 
Battle — In Fifth Order — Of the Naval Square — To restore the Order of Battle 
on Shifts of the Wind — Circumstances to be considered in forming a Fleet for 
Action — Of the Weather-gage — Engagement between two Ships — Preparation — 
Action — Repair — Engagement between two Fleets — To dispute the Weather- 
gage — To force an Enemy to Action — To avoid coming to Action — To Double 
an F-nemy — To avoid being Doubled — Of Chasing — Defects of usual Line of 
Battle — De Grenier's Method of Tactics — Clerk's Tactics — Of firing at Hull or 
Rigging — One Ship cannot be exposed to the Fire of many — Principles used in 
bringing Ships to Action — New Mode of Attack from Windward — From Lee- 
ward Page 76—137 



CONTENTS. Vll 



PART II. 

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 



Page 

Chapteb I. — Introduction — Cause of the War — Washington's Mission 138 

II. — Washington's first Campaign — Bravery of Provincials 145 

III. — Expedition against Fort Du Quesne — Braddock's Defeat .... 148 

IV. — Formal Declaration of War — Plan of Campaign 160 

v. — Expedition against Louisbourg — Siege of Fort William Henry. 161 
VI. — Siege of Louisbourg — Frontignac and Fort Du Quesne taken. 165 
VII Defeat of Montcalm— Death of Wolfe— End of the War 175 



PART III. 

THE REVOLUTION. 



Chapteh I. — Cause of the Revolution — Stamp Act — Boston Tea Party. . . 195 

II Pitt's Peace Bill — Battle of Lexington — Boston blockaded. . . 223 

III. — Preparations — Ticonderoga, Crown Point, &c., taken 230 

IV. — Investment of Boston continued — Battle of Breed's Hill 235 

V. — Meeting of Continental Congress — Washington in command. 253 
VI. — Americans fortify Dorchester Heights — Boston evacuated. . . . 272 

VII. — Siege of Charleston — Declaration of Independence 278 

VIII. — Battle of Long Island — Defeat of American Troops 299 

IX. — Capture of General Lee — Defeat of British at Trenton 318 

X. — Expedition against Danbury — Death of Wooster 328 

XI. — Arrival of Lafayette — Battle of Brandy wine 330 

XII. — Philadelphia taken — Battle of Germantown 346 

Xni. — Battle of Bennington — Of Saratoga — Surrender of Burgoyne. 354 
XIV. — Attack on Forts Mifflin and Mercer — Death of Count Donop. 404 

XV — British evacuate Philadelphia — Battle at Freehold 409 

XVI. — Arrival of Count D'Estaing — Attack on Newport 415 

XVII. — Shocking Barbarity of the Indians — Massacre of Wyoming. . 460 

XVni. — Campaign in the South — Savannah taken 427 

XIX. — Piratical Warfare of the British — Putnam's Escape 429 

XX. — Storming of Stony Point 431 

XXI. — Operations against the Indians 434 

XXII. — Expedition against Charleston — Capitulation 434 

XXin. — Battle of Camden — Return of Lafayette 447 

XXIV. — Treason of Arnold — Execution of Andre 451 

XXV. — Operations in the South — Battle of the Cowpens 456 

XXVI. — Battle of Camden — Battle of Eutaw Springs 458 

XXVII. — Siege of Yorktown — Surrender of Cornwallis 463 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



PART IV. 

THE LATE WAR. 



Page 
Chapter I. — Declaration of War against England — Battle of Tippecanoe. . 490 

II. — General Hull's disgraceful Surrender 498 

III. — Engagement between the Constitution and Guerriere 499 

IV. — Invasion of Canada — Achievements of Col. Van Rensselaer. . . 502 

V. — Capture of the Wasp by the Frolic 504 

VI. — The United States and Macedonian 509 

VII. — The Constitution and Java 524 

VIII. — Bloody Action at the River Raisin 526 

IX. — The Hornet and Peacock — Generosity of Americans 528 

X. — Americans attack York — Death of General Pike 529 

XI. — Loss of the Chesapeake — Death of Lavyreuce 530 

XII. — Capture of the United States Sloop Argus 537 

XIII Boxer captured by the Enterprise — Cruise of the President. . . 537 

XIV. — Perry's Victory on Lake Erie 539 

XV. — Maiden taken — Battle of the Thames — Death of Tecumseh. . 564 
XVI. — Harrison resigns — Invasion of Canada — Battle of Chippewa. . 571 

XVII Cruise of the Essex — Captured by a superior Force 587 

XVIII. — Capture of the Epervier by the Peacock 589 

XIX. — Burning of the Capitol at Washington by Ross 589 

XX. — Attack on Baltimore by Ross — Enemy repulsed 591 

XXI. — Macdonough's Victory on Lake Champlain 592 

XXII Battle of New Orleans— Treaty of Peace 595 



PART V. 

THE FLORIDA WAR. 



Chapter I. — Character of the War — Death of Major Dade 603 

PART VI. 

THE CALAMITIES OF WAR. 



Reflections on the Calamities of War — Beautiful Extract from Channing. . . 614 



THE 

ARMY AND NAVY. 
PAET I. 

CHAPTER I. 

MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 

War, in the hands of the tyrant, is the science of whole- 
sale murder, plunder and desolation — the science of defence 
in the hands of the patriot. The one employs it against the 
people ; the other, in their behalf. The one seeks it as a 
trade ; the other adopts it as a dreadful necessity to avoid 
or arrest greater evils. The one gains for his reward the 
fears and curses of the people ; the other, their heartfelt 
applause and esteem. 

Aware that no man can read descriptions of battles, or 
other military movements, understandingly, without some 
previous knowledge of the fundamental principles and max- 
ims of war, we shall endeavour to place a kind of information 
at the disposal of the reader, which many have hitherto been 
unable to obtain. 

We have always considered ordinary histories defective, 
from a total neglect of a scientific and philosophical account 
of the governing principles of warlike operations. In reading 
such works, we might almost be led to suppose that a general 
had nothing to do but to " trust in Providence and keep his 
powder dry" — to march his army against the enemy with no 
other thoughts than how io fight. But let the general reader 
once get an insight into the mighty projects of the chief officer 
before and during his march, all based on profound scientific 



10 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



principles, and a new and ample field is opened to his asto- 
nished view. He then not merely looks upon a Washington, 
a Lafayette, a Schuyler or a Greene, as a brave man fighting 
with enthusiasm and skill in the cause of the people, with a 
plan confined to the narrow limits of the battle-field ; but he 
sees operations developed by the minds of great men, so vast, 
so extensive, for hundreds of miles around, that he reads 
accounts of their achievements as mental, as well as moral 
and physical, victories over the invading foe. It is this great 
plan that constitutes the interest of the science of war; it is 
this that exhibits the majesty of mind ; it is this that, even 
now, may elevate our veneration for the living, and reverence 
for the dead, heroes of our army and navy — that may exalt 
their merits still higher in the estimation of the American 
people ; it is this that gives defensive war, in the hands of 
men engaged in a just cause, a dignity that God himself, in 
his providence, has smiled upon it, when our fathers struggled 
for the rights of man. 

In laying down the fundamental principles of war in this 
chapter, we shall avail ourselves of the information of the 
very best authorities now extant, to draw rich stores of know- 
ledge from the latest English, French and German works, 
which it was heretofore impossible to obtain without much 
labour or expense. 

If it should be asked why we obtain much of our informa- 
tion from European works, let it be remembered that we owe 
our tactics to Europe, and that it was against European tac- 
tics that our heroes had to exercise their powers. It was not 
so much the possession of superior tactics on the part of the 
Americans that crowned their efforts with victory, as the 
superior application of them to practice. Many of our illus- 
trations of principles are taken from foreign wars, but they 
are merely to develope principles, as carried out by various 
distinguished chief commanders of ancient and modern times, 
under different circumstances, to make the subject more clear 
and comprehensible to those who have not made war a par- 
ticular study, or who have not had the good fortune of seeing 
those few rare works on this subject in the different languages. 



MIIilTARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 11 



Independent of the numerous other advantages resulting 
from such an arrangement, which are too obvious to need any 
further comment, by rendering these maxims clear, (which 
are applicable to wars in all countries), by foreign examples 
chiefly, we shall avoid repetition in describing the American 
campaigns, which will, incidentally, develope their own go- 
verning principles with clearness and perspicuity to those 
acquainted with military movements ; or who first carefully 
peruse this key to the wonderful projects of the great general, 
and the thrilling and startling secrets of his success. 

I. 

To throw, by a combined operation, the greatest mass of 
forces upon the decisive or primitive objective point, in which 
resides \he principle of strength in the enemy, so as to destroy 
this point in the shortest, most decided and effectual manner, 
constitutes the one great governing principle — the maxim of 
maxims in war; in other words, to attack the most vulnerable 
point of the enemy, which conquered, would be most decisive 
in terminating the war. All other maxims or precepts are 
intended to instruct us in the mode of accomplishing this 
great object. 

II. 

The application of the first maxim to a great and perfect 
operation ought to include these three primitive combina- 
tions : — First, forming the plan of a campaign, offensive or 
defensive, embracing the lines of operation in the best man- 
ner. The second is the art of moving the mass of forces 
with the greatest rapidity upon the objective point of the 
line of operations. This is the mode of execution or strategy. 
The third is the art of combining the mass of forces to act 
simultaneously on the most important point on the battle- 
field. 

1. In laying a plan of campaign, six essential points pre- 
sent themselves to our consideration: a, the political situation 
of both parties ; h, the situation at the particular time ; c, the 
relative force and means of carrying on the war ; d, the loca- 
tion and distribution of the armies of both parties ; e, the 
natural lines of operations; f^ the most advantageous line of 



12 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



operations. Tlic relative means of war between the parties ^ 
are only to be viewed as they are of importance. Territorial ' 
or manoeuvring lines of operation, says a late writer, are the, 
principal object ; and though they are subject to many acces-j 
sory considerations, the rules of the art must nevertheless | 
form their basis. Originality and great boldness are not 
incompatible with their application. 

But, before we proceed, it will be proper to give a defini- 
tion of several military terms. 

Jl base or basis of operations is the frontier, a large river, 
a coast, chains of mountains, fortresses, deserts or any topo- 
graphical or political extent of country, upon the imaginary 
line of w Inch the corps of an army assemble, offensively, to 
take their departure from thence into the country of the 
enemy, and to which, if they fail, they intend to retreat ; 
defensively, to counteract all the measures of an invading foe. 

Lines of operations are territorial and manoeuvring lines. 
The territorial lines are those traced by art or nature for the 
defence or invasion of states. Frontiers covered with for- 
tresses, or having a natural defence, as mountains, rivers, &c., 
form their constituents. Manceuvring lines are the disposi- 
tions of the general to traverse them offensively, or cover 
them defensively. Both these lines of operations are inti- 
mately connected. In offensive war, the line is an imaginary 
perpendicular upon the base, along which an army operates 
against the enemy ; in defensive w ar it is often the same, but 
still oftener parallel to the territorial line. A line of commu- 
nication is either the same as that of operations, or any other 
by which the army receives its supplies and communicates with 
the base. 

Some examples will render the definition more intelligible. 
France and Austria have three great lines of operations 
against each other ; by Italy on one side, Switzerland and 
Tyrol on the centre, and by Germany on the other. In these 
the Po, the Maine, the Danube, or a principal road, consti- 
tutes the materiel of lines, which are amenable to only a few j 
rules presented by their nature. Between Prussia and Aus-i 
tria are again three lines — through Moravia, Lusatia, and! 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 13 



Saxony. Lines of operations are divisible into collateral or 
separate points. Frederick entered Bohemia by his central 
line upon four points. The French invaded Germany, in 
1796 and 1799, upon tvv^o subdivided lines. Napoleon always 
operated upon one principal line, as did the Duke of Welling- 
ton in Spain. 

2. Rapidity of movement increases the force of an army 
by enabling the mass to be carried alternately on every point 
of the line. " The whole mystery of warlike operations is cen- 
tred in the legs /" says Marshal Saxe. Napoleon holds nearly 
the same language : " The strength of an army, like the 
power in mechanics, is estimated by multiplying the mass by 
the rapidity ; a rapid march augments the morale of an army, 
and increases all the chances of victory." Washington said 
so, if you please, when he took possession of Dorchester 
Heights, and compelled the British army to leave Boston 
without firing a gun ; thus ivinning the game by the very first 
move. He again acted in accordance with the same principle, 
when he rushed like a meteor from the north to the south, to 
besiege. York town and strike the decisive blow before John 
Bull got his spectacles fairly adjusted to see where he was. 
Rapidity, says Montecuculli, is of importance in concealing 
the movements of an army, because it leaves no time to 
divulge the intention of the commander. It is, therefore, an 
advantage to attack the enemy unexpectedly — to take him 
off his guard — to surprise him, and let him feel the thunder 
before he sees the flash. But if too great celerity exhausts 
your troops, while on the other hand delay deprives you of 
the favourable moment, you must weigh the advantage against 
the disadvantage, and choose between. Marshal Villars ob- 
serves, that in war everything depends upon being able to 
deceive the enemy ; and, having once gained this point, in 
never allowing him time to recover himself. Villars has 
united practice to precept. His bold and rapid marches were 
almost always crowned with success. It was the opinion of 
Frederick the Great, that all wars should be short and rapid ; 
because a long war insensibly relaxes discipline, depopulates 
the state, and exhausts its resources. The principle of rapid- 



14 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



ity, carried to the extent of Villars and Frederick, however, 
must be received with some caution : in the case of the lat- 
ter, in adopting it as a maxim ; in that of the former, in the 
manner of carrying it into execution. In the one we must 
be governed by circumstances ; in the other by prudence. If 
the movements of an army are too slow, their antagonists 
will not only guard against surprise, but be prepared for 
their reception. General Schuyler retreated before Bur- 
goyne, but he threw so many obstacles in his way, that by 
the time he arrived at Saratoga the Americans were "pre- 
pared to meet him. 

3. Among the first prmciples in battle is that of operating 
with a superior force upon a decisive point, because the phy- 
sical force of organic numbers in arms furnishes the unerring 
means of victory when the moral qualities in both armies are 
equal. The means of bringing this force to bear in the most 
advantageous manner is the art of fighting; consequently, 
courage and fortune being nearly balanced, that general who 
can operate with the largest mass upon the most decisive 
point must be successful : but, to effect this purpose, the com- 
binations must be such as to produce a unity of movements, 
conducing simultaneously to the same object. 

It is necessary to avoid dispositions which have generally 
proved fatal ; such as, 1st, forming isolated divisions; 2d, 
ordering extended movements, which deprive the army of a 
part of its strength, and enable the enemy to ruin either the 
main body or the detachment ; 3d, positions with too great 
an extent of front ; 4th, allowing obstacles to separate the 
wings, or obstacles which prevent the connexion of columns, 
and expose them to separate defeats. 

The first combinations are those which produce an oblique 
order of battle — those with a wing reinforced, those which 
outflank the enemy, and those which form a perpendicular 
upon a hostile extremity, or upon a scattered centre. These 
are almost always successful, because they present a whole 
line to an extremity, and therefore a greater mass than the 
enemy. Thus the fundamental principle of all military com- 
binations, namely, to effect with the greatest mass of forces 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 15 



a combined attack upon the decisive point, is applied ; and 
it is easy to understand how a general of ability, with 60,000 
men, may be able to defeat 100,000, if he can bring 50,000 
into action upon a single part of his enemy's line ; for battles 
are decided, not by troops upon the muster-rolls, nor even by 
those present, but by those alone who are simultaneously 
engaged. 

III. 

In the selection of the particular line of operations, the 
rulers of a country must be governed by circumstances. 
The situation of the belligerents ; their resources ; nature of 
the fortresses ; strength of their forces ; distance from sea ; 
direction of a chain of mountains ; course of a river; the 
condition of neutral powers, or apprehensions of an ally, 
should all receive due consideration. It is requisite to fore- 
see everything the enemy may do, and be prepared to meet 
it. It is true we sometimes see bad selections succeed, the 
plans of which are entirely at variance with the principles 
of war ; but these are either the results of the caprices of 
fortune or of the errors committed by the enemy. A good 
general should never trust either ; and if his government lays 
a plan which he considers faulty, to attempt to execute it 
would be culpable, if it were his opinion that he thus allowed 
himself to be made instrumental in his army's ruin. It M'ould 
become his duty to represent his reasons against it, and en- 
deavour to persuade a change of plan, and, if unsuccessful, 
rather resign than do violence to his conscience and wrong 
to his countrymen. 

" In general, the initial application of military masses 
should be when the belligerents are neighbours on some part 
of the frontier which projects into the hostile state, as Bohe- 
mia with regard to Prussia, or Silesia with regard to Austria. 
But it is a maxim that lines of operations have their key as 
well as fields of battle : in the former, the great strategical 
points are decisive ; as in the latter, the points which com- 
mand the weak part of a position constitute the key." 

Of all the obstacles on the frontier of states, says Napo- 
leon, the most difficult to overcome is the desert — mountains 



16 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



next ; and large rivers occupy the third place. These are 
important considerations in the invasion of a country, com- 
ing as they do from a man of so much experience, indepen- 
dent of his great military genius. He appears to have been 
called upon to surmount every kind of difficulty incidental to 
warfare in his military career. 

In Egypt he traversed burning deserts, suffering dreadfully 
from heat and thirst, and vanquished and destroyed the Ma- 
melukes, so celebrated for their courage and address, in a 
country ill adapted to supply the wants of his troops. In the 
conquest of Italy he twice crossed the Alps by difficult 
passes, and at a season which rendered the undertaking truly 
formidable. In three months he passed the Pyrenees, beat 
and dispersed four Spanish armies. In short, from the Rhine 
to the Borysthenes, no natural obstacle could be found to 
arrest the rapid march of his victorious army. 

IV. 

When an army undertakes an invasion or acts offensively, 
it takes the lead in the movements, and those of the enemv 
are necessarily subordinate to them. If it occupies with a 
division each of the great avenues leading to the enemy, he 
will be in doubt and perplexity as to the point of the intended 
attack, and will not know where to concentrate his masses to 
oppose them. Although it is absolutely necessary to move 
with a mass of force near the enemy, yet if the army takes 
the lead in the movements it may gain great advantages by 
marching in separate corps while still at a distance from him, 
if he has not a concentrated mass ready to act, and there be 
several roads leading concentrically towards the point in- 
tended to be occupied. Five corps of 20,000 men each, will, 
of course, move forward more rapidly towards any point, 
than a hundred thousand men marching on the same road, 
who can only advance with the tardiness natural to large 
bodies. They are not only interfering with the movements 
of each other, but they must necessarily be encumbered with 
the immense train of baggage for subsistence. 

An army of 20,000 men can find subsistence by merely 
causing the country for some leagues around to contribute 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 17 



to their wants ; and if they take with them biscuit for a 
week, that is, during the first period, while corps are in posi- 
tion, or manoeuvring in a contracted area with other cohimns, 
they can subsist until the magazines are formed. This plan 
will enable the general to dispense with the necessity of pre- 
arranged magazines, or the encumbrance of field-ovens. 

The general direction is upon the centre, one of the extre- 
mities, or the rear of the enemy's line. Of these an extremity 
is usually to be preferred, because from it the rear is easily 
gained. The centre is preferred only where the enemy's line 
is scattered and his corps separated by long intervals. 

V. 

It should be laid down as a principle, that Avhen the con- 
quest of a country is undertaken by two or three armies, 
which have each their separate line of operation until they 
arrive at a point fixed upon for their concentration, the junc- 
tion should never take place too near the enemy, because the 
latter, in uniting his forces, might not only prevent it, but 
defeat the armies in detail. This error was committed by 
Frederick the Great, in the campaign of 1757. Marching to 
the conquest of Bohemia with two armies, which had each 
their separate line of operation ; he united them in the sight 
of the Duke of Lorraine, who covered Prague with the impe- 
rial army. Frederick, it is true, succeeded, but the success 
of this march depended entirely on the inaction of the Duke, 
who, at the head of 70,000 men, did nothing to prevent the 
junction of the two Prussian armies. 

VI. 

Plans of campaign may be modified, ad libitum, according 
to circumstances, the genius of the general, the character of 
the troops, and the features of the country. 

Sometimes hazardous campaigns succeed, the plan of which 
is directly at variance with the maxims of war, as already 
stated, by good fortune, or faults of the enemy, upon which 
a general should never count ; for even when the plan is ori- 
ginally good, it may run the risk of failing at the outset, if 
opposed by an adversary who acts at first on the defensive, 



18 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



and then suddenly seizing the initiative, surprises by the skil- 
fulness of his manoeuvres. Such was the fate of the plan 
laid dow^n by the Aulic council, for the campaign of 1796, 
under the command of Marshal Wurmser. From his great 
numerical superiority, the Marshal had calculated on the 
entire destruction of the French army by cutting off its 
retreat. He founded his operations on the defensive attitude 
of his adversary, who was posted on the line of the Adige, 
and had to cover the siege of Mantua, as well as central and 
lower Italy. 

Wurmser, supposing the French army fixed in the neigh- 
bourhood of Mantua, divided his force into three corps, which 
marched separately, intending to unite at that place. Napo- 
leon, having penetrated the design of the Austrian general, 
felt all the advantage to be derived from striking the first 
blow against an army divided into three corps, without any 
relative communications. He hastened, therefore, to raise the 
siege of Mantua, assembled the whole of his forces, and by 
this means became superior to the imperialists, whose divi- 
sions he attacked and beat in detail. Thus Wurmser, who 
fancied he had only to march to certain victory, saw himself 
compelled, after a ten days' campaign, to retire with the 
remains of his army into the Tyrol, after a loss of 25,000 
men in killed and wounded, 15,000 prisoners, nine stand of 
colours, and seventy pieces of cannon. 

VII. 

An army, says Napoleon, which undertakes the conquest 
of a country, has either its two wings resting upon neutral 
territories, or upon great natural obstacles, such as rivers or 
chains of mountains. It happens in some cases that only one 
wing is so supported, and in others, that both are exposed. 

In the first instance cited, viz., where both wings are pro- 
tected, a general has only to guard against being penetrated 
in front. In the second, when one wing only is supported, 
he should rest upon the supported wing. In the third, where 
both wings are exposed, he should depend upon a central 
formation, and never allow the different corps under his com- 
mand to depart from this, for if it be diflfiicult to contend with 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 19 



the disadvantage of having two flanks exposed, the inconve- 
nience is doubled by having four, tripled if there be six ; 
that is to say, if the army is divided into two or three differ- 
ent corps. In the first instance, then, as above quoted, the 
line of operation may tend indifferently to the right or to the 
left. In the second, it should be directed towards the wing 
in support. In the third, it should be perpendicular to the 
centre of the army's line of march. But in all these cases it 
is necessary, every five or six days, to have a strong post or 
an entrenched position upon the line of march, in order to 
collect stores and provisions, to organize convoys, to form a 
centre of movement and establish a point of defence to shorten 
the line of operation. 

These general principles of war were entirely unknown or 
lost sight of in the middle ages. The Crusaders in their 
fanaticism, while making their incursions into Palestine, appear 
to have had no other object in view but to fight and conquer, 
so little pains did they take to reap any advantages from 
their victories. Hence innumerable armies perished by their 
blind zeal, without any other advantage than that derived 
from the momentary success gained by their superiority in 
numbers. 

By neglecting this principle, Charles the Twelfth, aban- 
doning his line of operations and all communication with 
Sweden, threw himself into the Ukraine, and lost the greatest 
part of his army by the fatigue of a winter campaign, in a 
barren country without resources. 

Defeated at Pultowa, he was reduced to seek refuge in 
Turkey, after crossing the Dnieper with the remains of his 
army, diminished to little more than one thousand men. 

Gustavus Adolphus was the first who brought back the art 
of war to its true principles. His operations in Germany 
were bold, rapid and well executed. He made use of suc- 
cess for future security, and established his line of operation 
so as to guard against the possibility of any interruption in 
his communications with Sweden. His campaigns, therefore, 
form a new era in the art of war. 



20 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



VIII. 

In the formation of large armies, the great variety of stores 
and ammunition which are required, makes it necessary to 
establish positions, forming depots or magazines, and keep 
the communication with them always open and yet protected. 
These positions arc the base — the foundation of all offensive 
war, from which the line of operations is directed forward 
into the enemy's country. 

IX. 

There are a great variety of manoeuvring lines. Simple 
lines of operations, where an army operates in only a single 
direction from a frontier, without forming detached corps. 
Double and multiplied lines,when it acts upon the same fron- 
tier with two or three isolated corps, towards one or several 
objects. Interior lines of operations are formed to oppose se- 
veral hostile lines, and are so directed as to possess internal 
connexion, and enabled to move and approach each other, 
without allowing the enemy to oppose a superior mass to 
them. Exterior lines, on the contrary, possess the opposite 
qualities : they are such as an army may form at the same 
time, upon the two extremities of one or several hostile lines. 
Lines upon an extended front are those which are arranged 
upon a great contiguous development by isolated divisions, 
but still belonging to the same mass of forces, and operating 
upon the same object. Under this head are comprehended, 
likewise, lines formed by two separate corps upon one given 
extent : they are then double lines upon a great front. Deep 
or lengthened lines are those which, commencing at their 
base, pass over a great extent of country before they can 
attain their object ; as Napoleon's campaign into Russia. 
Concentric lines of operation are either several or a single 
line subdivided, moving from distant points in order to arrive 
at the same object, in front or in rear of their base. Eccen- 
tric lines designate a single mass starting from one point, and 
dividing itself in order to form several diverging lines upon 
isolated objects. Secondary lines are those in the great com- 
binations of two armies, which designate their relative con- 
nexion while operating upon the development of the same 



Lh: 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 21 

frontier. Accidental lines are produced in the original plan 
of campaign, when unexpected events necessitate a new 
direction for the operations. They are of the highest im- 
portance, and rarely adopted but by generals of the first 
abilities. Among all these lines, the simple and interior are 
the best, particularly when combined, as being most conge- 
nial to the great principle of carrying a mass of troops upon 
the decisive point. A few remarks will make the truth of 
this apparent. If an army advances from its base of opera- 
tions upon one line, it is clear that the general commanding 
will have but two important dangers to provide against ; 
first, that of his troops being attacked unawares ; and, se- 
condly, that of being turned and cut off from his communi- 
cations with his base. An army, on the other hand, which 
moves upon double, exterior or multiplied lines, must be 
weakened in proportion to the number of its divisions. The 
general has many combinations to attend, and many dangers 
to guard against ; his columns being on many roads, and un- 
connected, must also be dependent upon many persons and 
many orders. Obstacles will be multiplied at every step ; 
and errors cannot be known or corrected without much loss 
of time. 

X. 
The configuration of the theatre of war may possess the 
same importance as that of a frontier; for, in fact, every 
theatre of war may be considered as a quadrilateral figure. 
To elucidate this idea, the scene of operations of the French 
army from 1757 to 1769, and the pj j 

operations of Napoleon in 1806, ^ 
may be cited. In Fig. 1, the side 
A B being enclosed by the North 
Sea, the side B D by the river We- 
ser, base of the army of Prince Fer- 
dinand ; C D representing the river 
Maine, base of the French, and A C 
the Rhine, likewise in possession of 
the French ; their armies operating ^ 
offensively on the sides A C and C D, had the third, A B, 



Nordi Sea 



t 



Idaine 



122 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 




or North Sea, in their favour, and therefore B D was the 
only side which they were to gain by their manoeuvres, to 
have possession of the four sides, and consequently of the 
base of all the communications of their adversary. 

This is more clearly exemplified in Fig. 2. The French 
Fig. 2. army, E, proceeding from the base, 

'^ C D, to gain the position F G H, 
cuts off the allied army, J, from the 
side B D, its only communication 
and base. It would thus be driven 
into the angle LAM, which is 
formed near Embden by the line 
of the Rhine, the Ems, and the 
sea ; while the army, E, could al- 
ways communicate with C D, or the Maine. 

The manoeuvre of Napoleon on the Saale, in 1806, was 
combined on the same principle. He moved upon Jena and 
Naumburg in the position F G H ; and then advancing by 
Helle and Dessau, he threw the Prussian army, J, upon the 
side, A B, formed by the sea. The fate which attended that 
army at Erfurth, Magdeburg, Liibeck, and Prentzlow, is well 
known. The great art, therefore, consists in combining the 
marches so as to arrive upon the communications of the ene- 
my without sacrificing one's own. Now the lines F G H, by 
means of the prolonged position and the angle formed towards 
the extremity of the enemy, always preserves the communi- 
cation with the base, C D. This constitutes the application 
of the manoeuvres of Marengo and Jena. ■ 

When the theatre of hostilities is not near the sea, it will 
be still circumscribed by some great neutral power, which 
guards the frontier, and encloses one side of the quadrangle. 
No doubt this barrier is inferior to the sea, but, in a general 
view, it must nevertheless be considered as an obstacle, upon 
which it is dangerous to be driven after a defeat, and advan- 
tageous to push an enemy. A state with 200,000 men will 
not suffer its neutrality to be violated with impunity ; and if 
a beaten army ventured so to do, still it would be cut off 
from its base. But if an inferior power forms the limit of 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 23 

the theatre of war, the square of operations may then be 
considered as extending over it to the next great neutral 
power, or the sea. 

To give a still more convincing proof of the justness of 
the preceding ideas, let us examine the scene of the campaign 
of 1806-7, in Poland. The Baltic and the frontier of Aus- 
trian Gallicia formed the two sides A B and C D of the above^ 
square. It was of great consequence to both parties to avoid 
being driven upon either of these obstacles. The configura- 
tion of the frontiers may modify the sides of the square, and 
convert them into a parallelogram, or a trapezius, as in Fig. 3. 

In this case, the army G H, being in possession of the sides 
A C and C D, would be still Pj^ 3 

more favourably situated, be- j^ 
cause the base of the opponent, 
being contracted at B D, would 
be more difficult to keep open. 
The front of the base B D hav- 
ing less extent, offers fewer re- 
sources for manoeuvring, and 
affords to the army, G H, the ^ 
means of operating with more success, because the direction 
of the line C D naturally leads upon the communications of 
the enemy, and because the space to be occupied in order to 
cut him off is shorter, and therefore more easily held with 
concentrated forces. 

Thus it will be seen that the manner of embracing a theatre 
of war is amenable to these two principles : 

1. To direct the masses upon the decisive points of the 
line of operations ; that is, upon the centre, if the enemy has 
imprudently scattered his forces, or upon an extremity, if he 
is in a contiguous line. 

2. To make the great effort, in the latter case, upon that 
extremity which has its back against an insurmountable ob- 
stacle, or which leads upon the communications of the enemy 
without sacrificing our own. 

XI. 
Passive defence should never be depended upon, nor mere 




24 THE AKMY AND NAVY. 



fortresses without an army, as it would be like a shield with- 
out a sword. It is very obvious that the defensive system 
which has the greatest number of offensive faculties is always 
to be preferred. In passive defence the enemy can choose 
their own time and place to strike, and prepare accordingly ; 
but in offensive operations, besides increasing the morale of 
the army, as already observed, the enemy has not time or 
does not know where to concentrate their forces. Indepen- 
dent of this, you keep the horrors of war out of your own 
country by successful invasions of the enemy's country. 

XII. 

As armies defend a country, so fortresses defend armies. 
These likewise secure the magazines, stores, and hospitals of 
an army, and save the materiel and broken troops after a 
defeat. 

XIII. 

At the commencement of a campaign, to advance or not to 
advance is a matter of grave consideration ; but when once 
the offensive has been assumed, it must be sustained to the 
last extremity. However skilful the manoeuvres, a retreat 
always weakens the morale of an army, because losing the 
chances of success ; these last are transferred to the enemy. 
Besides, retreats always cost more men and materiel than the 
most bloody battles ; with this difierence, that in battle the 
enemy's loss is nearly equal to your own, whereas in a retreat 
the loss is on your side only. 

Marshal Saxe remarks, that no retreats are so favourable 
as those which are made before a languid and unenterprising 
enemy ; for when he pursues with vigour, the retreat soon 
degenerates into a rout. Upon this principle it is a great 
error, says the Marshal, to adhere to the proverb which 
recommends us to build a large bridge of gold for a retreating 
enemy. No. — Follow him up with spirit, and he is destroyed. 

XIV. 
Although it has been already stated that it is better to 
attack the extremity of a line, yet it must appear evident that 
both the extremities should not be attacked at the same time, 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 25 



unless there be a very great superiority on the part of the 
assailant. An army of 60,000 men forming two corps of 
30,000 each, for the purpose of attacking an enemy equally 
numerous, is deprived of the power of striking a decisive 
blow, because it enables the adversary to take equal mea- 
sures ; or even, if the movement be extended and uncon- 
nected, to assemble his mass against one of the divisions, and 
destroy it by his momentary superiority. Multiplied attacks 
by means of a greater number of columns are still more dan- 
gerous, more repugnant to the best principles of war, parti- 
cularly when they cannot commence acting at the same mo- 
ment and upon the same point. But when there is a very 
great superiority of force on the side of the assailant, then, 
indeed, both the extremities of the hostile line should be 
attacked, because thus a greater number of troops is brought 
into action on both his wings ; whereas if this great superi- 
ority were kept in one mass upon a single point, the adver- 
sary might deploy as many as the other party could bring 
into action, and thus engage with equal numbers. In this 
case it is only requisite to collect the greatest mass upon that 
wing where the greatest success is expected. 

If 50,000 men, intending to attack 60,000, should form two 
corps of nearly equal force, and, with a view to embrace 
both the extremities of their line, should extend and isolate 
the attacks, it is clear that the 60,000 will have the facility 
of moving more rapidly within the interior of their line, than 
the assailant's corps with such a mass between them, as Fig. 
4 demonstrates. The two corps B and C might gain momen- 
tarily some ground, but the pj„ 4^ 
enemy. A, leaving a corps to 
check C upon the most ad- 
vantageous ground for de- 
fence which its position might 
offer, could throw the remain- 
ing mass of forces on the front, flank, and rear of B, which 
must consequently be destroyed. If B and C should have a 
third detachment on the centre, the result would be still more 
disastrous, for then separate corps would attack without union 



A 





26 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



a force everywhere imposing, which could not fail to over- 
power them. This took place at Kolin, from inattention to 
the orders of the king ; at Neerwinden in 1793 ; and at 
Stockack, in 1799, where Dumourier and Jourdon were de- 
feated by Prince Coburg and the Archduke Charles. 

XV. 

Spies are of the utmost consequence when the lead is taken 
against the enemy, so as to obtain from time to time a know- 
ledge of the positions and movements which are undertaken. 
Partisans, thoroughly versed in watching the enemy, are of 
still greater utility. For this purpose the general should 
scatter small parties in all directions, and multiply them with 
as much care as he would show to restrain them in great 
operations. Some divisions of light cavalry, expressly orga- 
nized for this service, and not included in the order of battle, 
are the most efficient. To operate without such precaution 
is to walk in the dark, and to be exposed to the disastrous 
consequences which may be produced by a secret march of 
the enemy. These measures are too generally neglected. 
The espionnage is not sufficiently organized beforehand ; and 
the officers of light troops have not always the requisite ex- 
perience to conduct their detachments. 

XVI. 

The most appropriate disposition for leading troops into 
action, the Order of Battle, should possess the inherent quali- 
ties of mobility and solidity. To attain these two objects, 
troops which are to remain on the defensive should be partly 
deployed and partly in columns, as the allied army was at 
Waterloo, or the Russians at Eylau ; but the corps destined 
to attack a decisive point should be disposed into two lines 
of battalions, formed into columns of more or less density. 
Jomini proposes columns of grand divisions, according to the 
French formation of a battalion of six companies, making 
three grand divisions. 

Three grand divisions would thus form three lines, and the 
second line three more. This order, he thinks, offers more 
solidity than a deployed line, which waves too much, retards 
the impulse necessary for attack, and prevents the officers 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 27 

from managing their men. In order to facilitate the march, 
obviate the great density of the mass and procure a greater 
front, the division should be formed only two deep ; for thus 
the battalions will be more moveable. The march in front 
three deep is always fatiguing to the centre rank, which, being 
pressed between the first and third, produces fluctuation and 
consequent faintness in the onset. The front thus also be- 
coming one-third longer, the quantity of fire may be augmented 
if necessary. 

XVII. 

Between two armies equally capable of manoeuvring, the 
defensive one may form an angle with advantage, to secure 
a flank from attack ; but to render this precaution efficacious, 
the angle alone is not sufficient, because its utility is only 
momentary ; the mass, therefore, should change front in the 
same direction, and present a whole line to the enemy. 

If the army be sufficiently strong to assume the offensive 
against the assailant, a change of front, which is merely de- 
fensive, should be followed, as soon as the angle is formed and 
the enemy checked, by placing the line in columns of divi- 
sions to the flanks, and prolonging the direction from the 
position first occupied, to gain the hostile flank. Thus taken 
in front by the angle, and in flank and rear by the new direc- 
tion, the enemy will be defeated. In Fig. 5, A is the army 
endeavouring to turn the left y'kt. 5. 

flank of B, which forms the 
angle C, and under the protec- 
tion of this corps prolongs its 
line in the direction E E, by 
means of which the extremity 
of the hostile flank is gained ; 
A cannot well oppose the exe- 
cution of this movement in the //-' ' 
presence of the angle C and of y'^^' 
the line E, which, though it be '' 

in column, can form in an instant ; hence A must fall back 
and change front also. 

If a defensive position has an angle in the rear, the front 




28 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



will be weakened in proportion as that angle becomes more 
acute : but if there be a considerable interval on the summit, 
where the two lines should meet, the danger will be still 
greater; for if the enemy can establish himself on the point 
A, it is clear that the two wings, A C and A B, will be enfi- 
laded and forced to retreat, if not rolled up in confusion by 
an actual charge on either or both of these extremities. This 
caused the defeat of the Austrians at Prague, and of the 
Prussians at Breslau. (Fig, 6.) 



Fiff. 6. 



Fig. 7. 

B 



A a 



If two allied armies or great corps take up positions form- 
ing a re-entering angle with a space between them, and some 
considerable obstacle masks that space, they expose them- 
selves to be attacked and defeated separately : this danger 
increases with the increase of the distance between them. 
The corps A D being separated from B E by a wood, lake, 
or other considerable obstacle, at G, the enemy, F H, being 
covered by that obstacle, may attack and defeat one before 
the other can arrive to sustain it. (Fig. 7.) This principle 
results from the maxims of interior against exterior lines of 
operations. 

XVIII. 

An oblique attack, according to Guibert and the Journal 
Topographique, is a disposition by which a part, or the choice 
of the forces, is advanced towards the enemy, and the other 
kept out of his reach. This definition is not quite correct, as 
Figs. 8, 9, 10 and 11 demonstrate. An army may be out of 
Fig. 8. reach of the enemy, and therefore 

4 " refused in a line nearly parallel, and 

strongly reinforced on a wing, with- 

o Q^^ being oblique. (Fig. 8.) It may 

also be in an inclined line on the head of the attacks, and 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 29 



form a positive diagonal without being reinforced (Fig. 9) ; 
Fig. 9. or perpendicular upon a flank, as at Kuners- 

^ Pdorff,with awing re- p. jq 

'^^inforced (Fig. 10); a 
or horizontal upon 
the head of the co- 
lumns, without be- 
ing oblique (Fig. 1 1). 
There are several modifications of these four orders (among 
others Fig. 10) ; as, for example, a perpendicular angle to 
the front, as formed by the Austrians at Prague, Kolin, and 

Fig. 11. 

H Fig. 12. 



Hochkirchen (Fig. 12); the angle A C, being perpendicular 
to the army D E, reinforces the right wing, the line A B with- 
out being oblique : so also an angle to the rear would rein- 
force the line without obliquity. A parallel line, considerably 
reinforced upon the most important point, is no doubt good, 
and even very generally applicable ; for it is conformable to 
the principles which form the basis of all operations : but it 
has several inconveniences. The weak part of the line being 
near the enemy, may be engaged, contrary to the intention, 
and be defeated ; which event would balance and arrest the 
advantages gained on the other wing ; as happened to both 
armies at Wagram. The reinforced wing having defeated its 
opponent, cannot take it in flank and rear without a consider- 
able movement, which would separate it from the other, if 
already engaged : but admitting the weaker wing not to be 
engaged, the other cannot even then turn the flank without 
drawing it circularly along the hostile front, which the enemy 
must necessarily anticipate by being on the chord of the 
movement, and consequently give him the advantage of the 



30 THE ARMY i TiD NAVY. 



offensive, by reaching the decisive point first with the mass 
of his forces. 

With the oblique order of Frederick, as applied at Leuthen, 
the effect is quite different ; the extremity of the wing at- 
tacked is not only overpowered by a whole line, but the end 
of that wing is constantly outflanked and the line turned, 
without manoeuvre or prolongation of direction, simply by a 
direct advance of the oblique line. The distance of the divi- 
sions which are not intended for the principal attack, places 
them out of danger of being engaged by a superior force, and 
yet sustains the wing in action. These effects of the open 
oblique attack, although known, cannot be too often presented 
to the reflections of military men. They offer, besides, an- 
other advantage still more decisive, in bringing the half of 
the army constantly into action against the extremity, pro- 
bably of only two brigades, of the hostile army, which has 
no counter-manoeuvre to stop its progress. What troops can 
stand against such odds, when, besides, they are constantly 
outflanked and taken in reverse ? Is it possible that confusion 
and dismay should not follow in a whole line, whose flank is 
overthrown and menaced with total destruction, by the pro- 
gressive advance in a direction upon the rear ? 

Yet such must be the infallible result of an oblique attack, 
when once it has reached the flank of the opponent undisco- 
vered, as indicated in the preceding maxims ; and when the 
lines are rapidly formed according to the method of Frede- 
rick, as will be seen in the observations on marches. Fig. 13 
demonstrates the mechanism more clearly. The left wing, 
B C, of the army A C, will receive the fire of the second 
brigade of the army D K L, while the first brigade, or ex- 
treme right, formed in column of divisions, will turn it and 
decide the first attack with rapidity. The second brigade, in 
the oblique direction of its march, will soon be seconded by 
the third ; and when that has passed the extremity, which 
must constantly recoil before a contiguous front, the fourth 
brigade opens its fire ; and in this manner, supposing the 
army D F, K L, arrived at the dotted line H I, the whole 
will have been engaged in succession with a fourth or a third 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 31 



of the enemy's line, the battalions of which, being crushed 
one after another, will be nearly surrounded. 

Fig. 13. 




Fig. 14. 



This demonstration is sufficient to show the great advan- 
tage of an open oblique order of attack. It is called open 
because the disposition, such as that of Leuthen, was nearly 
at right angles with the line of the Austrians, and different 
in every respect from a parallel order. All these advantages 
are equally applicable 
to masses concentrated 
upon the extremity 
which it is intended to d 
crush. The army A 
B, Fig. 14, instead of 
forming two lines, as 
in the former figure, 
may draw up the first line only, and keep the second in co- 
lumns at half distances behind the right, centre, and left, 
prepared to manoeuvre or strike the decisive blow. 

XIX. 

An army should be ready every day, every night, and at 
all times of the day and night, to oppose all the resistance of 
which it is capable. With this view, the soldier should be 
invariably complete in arms and ammunition ; the infantry 
should never be without its artillery, its cavalry, and its gene- 
rals ; and the different divisions of the army should be con- 
stantly in a state to support and to be supported. 




32 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

The troops, whether halted or encamped, or on the march, 
should be always in favourable positions, possessing the essen- 
tials required for a field of battle ; for example, the flanks 
should be well covered, and all the artillery so placed as to 
have free range, and to play with the greatest advantage. 
When an army is in column of march, it should have advanced 
guards and flanking parties, to examine well the country in 
front, to the right and to the left, and always at such distance 
as to enable the main body to deploy into position. 

XX. 

A general-in-chief should ask himself frequently in the 
day — what should I do if the enemy's army appeared now in 
my front, or on my right, or my left ? If he have any diffi- 
culty in answering these questions, he is ill posted and should 
seek to remedy it. 

XXI. 

Valour in war often does more than numbers, and discipline 
more than fury. 

XXII. 

When an army is inferior in number, inferior in cavalry 
and in artillery, it is essential to avoid a general action. The 
first deficiency should be supplied by rapidity of movement ; 
the want of artillery by the nature of the manoeuvres ; and 
the inferiority of cavalry, by the choice of positions. In such 
circumstances, the morale of the soldier does much. 

The campaign of 1814, in France, was skilfully executed 
upon these principles. Napoleon, with an army inferior in 
number, an army discouraged by the disastrous retreats of 
Moscow and of Leipzig, and still more by the presence of the 
enemy m the French territory, contrived, notwithstanding, to 
supply his vast inequality of force by the rapidity and com- 
bination of his movements. By the success obtained at 
Champaubert, Montmirail, Montereau, and Rheims, he had 
already begun to restore the morale of the French army. 
The numerous recruits of which it was composed, had already 
acquired that steadiness, of which the old regiments afforded 
them, an example, when the capture of Paris and the aston- I 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 33 



ishing revolution it produced, compelled Napoleon to lay 
down his arms. 

But this consequence resulted rather from the force of cir- 
cumstances than from any absolute necessity ; for Napoleon, 
by carrying his army to the other side of the Loire, might 
easily have formed a junction with the armies of the Alps 
and Pyrenees, and have re-appeared on the field of battle at 
the head of 100,000 men. Such a force would have amply 
sufficed to re-establish the chances of war in his favour, more 
especially as the armies of the allied sovereigns were obliged 
to manoeuvre upon the French territory with all the strong 
places of Italy and France in their rear. Napoleon said he 
could keep up a civil war in the country, but he scorned to 
war against his countrymen. 

XXIII. 

To act upon lines far removed from each other, and with- 
out communications, is to commit a fault which always gives 
birth to a second. The detached column has only its orders 
for the first day : its operations on the following day depend 
upon what may have happened to the main body. Thus the 
column either loses time upon emergency, in waiting for 
orders, or acts without them, and at hazard. Let it therefore 
be held as a principle, that an army should always keep its 
columns so united as to prevent the enemy from passing be- 
tween them with impunity. Whenever, for practical reasons, 
this principle is departed from, the detached corps should be 
independent in their operations. They should move towards 
a point fixed upon for their future junction. They should 
advance without hesitating, and without waiting for fresh 
orders, and every previous means should be concerted to pre- 
vent their being attacked in detail. 

The Austrian army, commanded by Field-Marshal Alvinzi, 
was divided into two corps, destined to act independently till 
they should accomplish their junction before Mantua. The 
first of these corps, consisting of 45,000 men, was under the 
orders of Alvinzi. It was to debouch by Monte Baldo, upon 
the positions occupied by the French army of the Adige 
The second corps, commanded by General Provera, was des- 



34 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

tined to act upon the lower Adige, and to raise the blockade 
of Mantua. Napoleon, informed of the enemy's movements, 
but not entirely comprehending his projects, confined himself 
to concentrating his masses and giving orders to the troops to 
hold themselves in readiness to manoeuvre. In the meantime 
fresh information satisfied the general-in-chief of the French 
army that the corps which had debouched by La Coronna, 
over Monte Baldo, jvas endeavouring to form a junction with 
its cavalry and artillery; both which, having crossed the 
Adige at Dolce, were directing their march upon the plateau 
of Rivoli, by the great road leading by Incanole. 

Napoleon immediately foresaw, that by having possession 
of the plateau, he should be able to prevent this junction, and 
obtain all the advantages of the initiative. He accordingly 
put his troops in motion, and at two o'clock in the morning 
occupied that important position. Once master of the point 
fixed upon for the junction of the Austrian columns, success 
followed all his dispositions. He repulsed every attack, made 
7,000 prisoners, and took several standards and twelve pieces 
of cannon. At two o'clock in the afternoon, the battle of 
Rivoli was already gained, when Napoleon, learning that Ge- 
neral Provera had passed the Adige at Anghiari, and was 
directing his march upon Mantua, left to his generals the 
charge of following the retreat of Alvinzi, and placed him- 
self at the head of a division for the purpose of defeating the 
designs of Provera. 

By a rapid march, he again succeeded in the initiatory 
movement, and preventing the garrison of Mantua from unit- 
ing its force with the relieving army. The corps charged 
with the blockade, eager to distinguish itself under the eyes 
of the conqueror of Rivoli, compelled the garrison to retire 
into the place, while the divisions of Victor, forgetful of the 
fatigue of a forced march, attacked the relieving army in 
front. At this moment a sortie from the lines of St. George 
took him in flank, and the corps of Augereau, which had fol- 
lowed the march of the Austrian general, attacked him in 
rear. Provera, surrounded on all sides, capitulated. The 
result of these two battles cost the Austrians 3,000 men in 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 35 



killed and wounded, 22,000 prisoners, twenty-four standards 
and forty-six pieces of cannon. 

XXIV. 

The fire used by the assailants in a flank attack must pro- 
duce enfilade ; flank attacks and enfilade are, therefore, syno- 
nymous terms, in so far as relates to fire. 

Of enfilade every one has a pretty just idea ; it is a de- 
structive sweeping fire along a line ; it is to soldiers what 
raking is to seamen, of which we shall speak hereafter ; it is 
to either, one of the greatest evils that can befall them, and 
in avoiding it on the one hand whilst he turns it on his ad- 
versary, consists one of the greatest arts of an able com- 
mander. 

The more we consider enfilade and flank attacks, or turn- 
ing an enemy, the more we shall find that their effects per- 
vade the whole military science, and form the main springs 
of most military movements ; it is to obtain these advantages 
that wings are thrown forward by the one party, and to pre- 
vent their being obtained that wings are thrown back by the 
other ; it is to obtain these advantages that attacks usually 
commence towards a flank ; it is to obtain these advantages 
that so many artifices are used, either by means of circuitous 
routes or other deceits, to fall upon an enemy's flank during 
the battle ; and it is to avoid such mischief that both parties, 
but more particularly the posted one, shows such solicitude 
in the arrangement of its flanks, as shall render this as diffi- 
cult as possible, or altogether impracticable. 

The body which succeeds in turning or taking in ffank its 
adversary, usually carries with it the fortune of the day. 
We have also adverted to the fact, that a position forming 
an angle salient, or projecting towards an enemy, is likewise 
a weak point, and it becomes weaker and weaker in propor- 
tion as it is more and more susceptible of enfilade, by being 
more acute : an angle rentrant, or projecting from an enemy, 
if the flanks and rear are secure, acts in the opposite ratio, 
for one part of the position defends the other. Fleets in the 
defence of narrow straits, usually draw up in a crescent or 
semicircle, with the concave towards the enemy, which is 



36 THE ARMY AND NAVY, 



exactly similar in principle, as well as effect, to the angle 
projecting from the enemy. It is very obvious that if the 
angle extended towards the enemy they might fire in the 
direction of its lines. 

XXV. 

An army ought to have only one line of operation. This 
should be preserved with care, and never abandoned but in 
the last extremity. 

The line of communication, says Montecuculli, must be 
certain and well established for every army that acts from a 
distant base ; and the commander who is not careful to keep 
his line perfectly open, marches upon a precipice : he moves 
to certain ruin, as may be seen by an infinity of examples. 
In fact, if the road by which provisions, ammunition, and 
reinforcements are to be brought up, is not entirely secured ; 
if the magazines, the hospitals, the depots of arms, and the 
places of supply are not fixed, and commodiously situated, 
not only the army cannot keep the field, but it will be exposed 
to the greatest dangers. 

XXVI. 

The distances permitted between corps of an army upon 
the march, must be governed by the localities, by circum- 
stances, and by the object in view. 

When an army moves at a distance from the enemy, the 
columns may be disposed along the road so as to favour the 
artillery and baggage. But when it is marching into action, 
the different corps must be formed in close columns in order 
of battle. The generals must take care that the heads of the 
columns which are to attack together, do not outstep each 
other, and that in approaching the field of action, they pre- 
serve the relative intervals required for deployment. 

The marches that are made preparatory to a battle require, 
says Frederick, the greatest precaution. With this view he 
recommends his generals to be particularly on their guard, 
and to reconnoitre the ground at successive distances, in order 
to secure the initiative by occupying those positions most 
calculated to favour an attack. On a retreat, it is the opinion 
of many generals that an army should concentrate its forces, 



MILITARY 3IAX1MS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 37 



and march in close columns if it is still strong enough to 
resume the offensive ; for by this means it is easy to form the 
line when a favourable opportunity presents itself either for 
holding the enemy in check, or for attacking him if he is not 
in a situation to accept battle. 

Such was Moreau's retreat, after the passage of the Adda 
by the Austro-Russian army. The French general, after 
having covered the evacuation of Milan, took up a position 
between the Po and the Tenaro. This camp rested upon 
Alexandria and Valentia, two capital fortresses, and had the 
advantage of covering the roads to Turin and Savona, by 
which he could effect his retreat in case he was unable to 
accomplish a junction with the corps d'armee of Macdonald, 
who had been ordered to quit the kingdom of Naples, and 
hasten his march into Tuscany. 

Forced to abandon this position in consequence of the 
insurrection in Piedmont and Tuscany, Moreau retired upon 
Asti, where he learned that his communication with the river 
of Genoa had just been cut off by the capture of Ceva. 
After several ineffectual attempts to re-take this place, he 
saw that his only safety depended upon throwing himself into 
the mountains. 

To effect this object, he directed the whole of his battering 
train and heavy baggage, by the Col de Fenestrelle, upon 
France ; then opening himself a way over the St. Bernard, 
he gained the Loano with his light artillery and the small 
proportion of field equipments he had been able to preserve. 

By this skilful movement, he not only retained his commu- 
nications with France, but was enabled to observe the mo- 
tions of the army from Naples, and to facilitate his junction 
with it, by directing the whole of his force upon the pointSy* 
necessary for that purpose. 

Macdonald, in the meantime, whose only chance of success 
depended on concentrating his little army, neglected this pre- 
caution, and was beaten in three successive actions at the 
Trebia. By this retardment of his march, he rendered all 
Moreau's measures to unite the two armies in the Plains of 
the Po useless, and his retreat after his brilliant but fruitless 



38 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



efforts at the Trebia, defeated the other dispositions also 
which the former had made to come to his support. After 
all, however, the inactivity of Marshal Suwarrow enabled 
the French general to accomplish his junction with the 
remains of the army from Naples. Moreau then concentrated 
his whole force upon the Apennines, and placed himself in a 
situation to defend the important positions of Liguria, imtil 
the chances of war should afford him an opportunity of resum- 
ing the offensive. 

When, after a decisive battle, an army has lost its artillery 
and equipments, and is consequently no longer in a state to 
resume the offensive, or even to arrest the pursuit of the 
enemy, it would seem most desirable to divide what remains 
into several corps, and order them to march by separate and 
distant routes upon the base of operations, and throw them- 
selves into the fortresses. This is the only means of safety ; 
for the enemy, uncertain as to the precise direction taken by 
the vanquished army, is ignorant in the first instance which 
corps to pursue, and it is in this moment of indecision that a 
march is gained upon him. Besides, the movements of a 
small body being so much easier than those of a larger one, 
these separate lines of march are all in favour of a retreating 
army. 

XXVI. 

Among mountains, a great number of positions are always 
to be found, very strong in themselves, and which it is dan- 
gerous to attack. The character of this mode of warfare 
consists in occupying camps on the flanks or in the rear of 
the enemy, leaving him only the alternative of abandoning 
his position without fighting, to take up another in the rear, 
or to descend from it in order to attack you. In mountain 
warfare, the assailant has always the disadvantage. Even 
in offensive warfare in the open field, the great secret consists 
in defensive combats, and in obliging the enemy to attack. 

During the campaign of 1793, in the Maritime Alps, the 
French army under the orders of General Brunet did all in 
its power to get possession of the camps at Rans and at 
Fourches, by an attack in front. But these useless efforts 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 39 



served only to increase the courage of the Piedmontese, and 
to destroy the ^lite of the grenadiers of the republican army. 
The manoeuvres by which Napoleon, without fighting, com- 
pelled the enemy to evacuate these positions in 1796, suffice 
to establish the truth of these principles, and to prove how 
much success in war depends upon the genius of the general, 
as well as on the courage of the soldier. 

XXVII. 

It is an approved maxim in war, never to do what the ene- 
my wishes you to do, for this reason alone, that he desires it. 
A field of battle, therefore, which he has previously studied 
and reconnoitred, should be avoided ; and double care should 
be taken where he has had time to fortify or entrench. One 
consequence deducible from this principle is, never to attack 
a position in front which you can gain by turning. 

It was without due regard to this principle, that Marshal 
Villeroi, on assuming the command of the army of Italy dur- 
ing the campaign of 1701, attacked, Avith unwarrantable pre- 
sumption, Prince Eugene of Savoy in his entrenched position 
of Chiari, on the Oglio. The French generals, Catinat among 
the rest, considered the post unassailable; but Villeroi insisted, 
and the result of this otherwise unimportant battle was the 
loss of the elite of the French army. It would have been 
greater still but for Catinat's exertions. 

It was by neglecting the same principle, that the Prince of 
Conde, in the campaign of 1644, failed in all his attacks upon 
the entrenched position of the Bavarian army. The Count 
Merci, who commanded the latter, had drawn up his cavalry 
skilfully upon the plain, resting upon Freyberg, while his 
infantry occupied the mountain. 

After many fruitless attempts, the Prince of Conde, seeing 

the impossibility of dislodging the enemy, began to menace 

his communication — but the moment Merci perceived this, he 

broke up his camp and retired beyond the Black Mountains. 

XXVIII. 

In a war of march and manoeuvre, if you would avoid a 
battle with a superior army, it is necessary to entrench every 
night, and occupy a good defensive position. Those natural 



40 THE ARMV AND NAVY. 



positions which are ordinarily met with are not sufficient to 
protect an army against superior numbers without recourse 
to art. 

The campaign of the French and Spanish army, com- 
manded by the Duke of Berwick, against the Portuguese, in 
the year 1706, affords a good lesson on this subject. The 
two armies almost made the tour of Spain. They began the 
campaign near Badajoz, and after manoeuvring across both 
Castilles, finished in the kingdoms of Valencia and Marcia. 
The Duke of Berwick encamped his army eighty-jive times ; 
and although the campaign passed without a general action, 
he took about 10,000 prisoners from the enemy. Marshal 
Turenne also made a fine campaign of manceuvre against the 
Count Montecuculli, in 1675. 

The imperial army having made its dispositions to pass the 
Rhine at Strasburg, Turenne used all diligence, and throw- 
ing a bridge over the river near the village of Ottenheim, 
three leagues below Strasburg, he crossed with the French 
army and encamped close to the little town of Velstet, which 
he occupied. This position covered the bridge of Strasburg, 
so that by this manoeuvre Turenne deprived the enemy of 
all approach to that city. 

Upon this Montecuculli made a movement with his whole 
army, threatening the bridge at Ottenheim, by which the 
French received their provisions from upper Alsace. 

As soon as Turenne discovered the design of the enemy, 
he made a rapid march with his whole force upon the village 
of Altenheim. This intermediate position between the two 
bridges which he wished to preserve, gave him the advan- 
tage of being able to succour either of these posts before the 
enemy had time to carry them. Montecuculli, seeing that 
any successful attack upon the bridges was not to be ex- 
pected, resolved to pass the Rhine below Strasburg, and with 
this view returned to his first position at Ottenheim. Mar- 
shal Turenne, who followed all the movements of the Aus- 
trian army, brought back his army also to Velstet. 

In the meantime, this attempt of the enemy having con- 
vinced the French general of the danger to which his bridge 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 41 



had exposed him, removed it nearer to chat of Strasburg, in 
order to diminish the extent of ground he had to defend. 

Montecuculli having commanded the magistrates of Stras- 
burg to collect materials for a bridge, moved to Scherzheim 
to receive them ; but Turenne again defeated his projects by 
taking a position at Freistett, where he occupied the islands 
of the Rhine, and immediately constructed a stockade. 

Thus it was that, during the whole of this campaign, Tu- 
renne succeeded in gaining the initiative of the enemy, and 
obliging him to follow his movements. He succeeded also by 
a rapid march in cutting off Montecuculli from the town of 
Offenburg, from when drew his supplies, and would no 

doubt have prevented the Austrian general from effecting his 
junction with the corps of Caprara, had not a cannon-shot 
terminated this great man's life. 

XXIX. 

A general of ordinary talent occupying a bad position, and 
surprised by a superior force, seeks his safety in retreat ; but 
a great captain supplies all deficiencies by his courage, and 
marches boldly to meet the attack. By this means he dis- 
concerts his adversaiy ; and if this last shows any irresolu- 
tion in his movements, a skilful leader, profiting by his inde- 
cision, may even hope for victory, or at least employ the day 
in manoeuvring — at night he entrenches himself, or falls back 
to a better position. By this determined conduct he main- 
tains the honour and courage of his army, the first essentials 
to all military superiority. 

In 1653, Marshal Turenne was surprised by the Prince of 
Conde, in a position in which his army was completely com- 
promised. He had the power indeed, by an immediate retreat, 
of covering himself by the Somme, which he possessed the 
means of crossing at Peronne, and from whence he was dis- 
tant only half a league ; but fearing the influence of this 
retrograde movement on the morale of his army, Turenne 
balanced all disadvantages by his courage, and marched 
boldly to meet the enemy with very inferior forces. After 
marching a league, he found an advantageous position, where 
he made every disposition for a battle. It was three o'clock 



42 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



in the afternoon, but the Spaniards, exhausted with fatigue, 
hesitated to attack him ; and Turenne having covered him- 
self with entrenchments during the night, the enemy no 
longer dared to risk a general action, and broke up his camp. 

XXX. 

The transition from the defensive to the offensive, is one of 
the most delicate operations in war. 

It is by studying the first campaigns of Napoleon in Italy, 
that we learn what genius and boldness may effect in pass- 
ing with an army from the defensive to the offensive. The 
army of the allies, commanded by General Beaulieu, was 
provided with every means that could render it formidable. 
Its force amounted to 80,000 men, and two hundred pieces 
of cannon. The French army on the contrary could number 
scarcely 30,000 men under arms, and thirty pieces of cannon. 
For some time there had been no issue of meat, and even 
bread irregularly supplied. The infantry was ill clothed, the 
cavalry wretchedly mounted. All the draught horses had 
perished from want, so that the service of the artillery was 
performed by mules. To remedy these evils, large disburse- 
ments were necessary ; and such was the state of the finances, 
that the government had only been able to furnish two thou- 
sand louis for the opening of the campaign. The French 
army could not possibly exist in this state. To advance or 
to retreat was absolutely necessary. Aware of the advan- 
tage of surprising the enemy at the very outset of the cam- 
paign by some decisive blow. Napoleon prepared for it by 
re-casting the morale of his army. 

In a proclamation full of energy, he reminded them that 
an ignoble death alone remained for them, if they continued 
on tlie defensive ; that they had nothing to expect from 
France, but everything to hope from victory. " Abundance 
courts you in the fertile plains of Italy," said he : " are you 
deficient, soldiers, in constancy or in courage ?" 

Profiting by the moment of enthusiasm which he had in- 
spired, Napoleon concentrated his forces in order to fall with 
his whole weight on the different corps of the enemy. Imme- 
diately afterwards, the battles of Montenotte, Milesimo, and 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 43 



Mondovi, added fresh confidence to the high opinion already 
entertained by the soldier for his chief; and that army which 
only a few days ago was encamped amid barren rocks, and 
consumed by famine, already aspired to the conquest of Italy. 
In one month after the opening of the campaign, Napoleon 
had terminated the war with the King of Sardinia, and con- 
quered the Milanese. Rich cantonments soon dispelled from 
the recollection of the French soldiers the misery and fatigue 
attendant upon this rapid march, while vigilant administra- 
tion of the resources of the country reorganized the materiel 
of the French army, and created the means necessary for the 
attainment of future success. Although part of these prin- 
ciples are more particularly applicable to other countries, yet 
some lessons are contained among the rest that may be use- 
ful to the American reader. 

XXXI. 

It may be laid down as a principle, that the line of opera- 
tions should not be abandoned ; but it is one of the most skil- 
ful manoeuvres in war to know how to change it, when cir- 
cumstances authorize or render this necessary. An army 
which changes skilfully its line of operation, deceives the 
enemy, who becomes ignorant where to look for its rear, or 
upon what weak points it is assailable. 

Frederick the Great sometimes changed his line of opera- 
tion in the middle of a campaign ; but he was enabled to do 
this, because he was mancEuvring at that time in the centre 
of Germany, an abundant country, capable of supplying all 
the wants of his army in case his communications with Prus- 
sia w^ere intercepted. 

Marshal Turenne, in the campaign of 1746, gave up his 
line of communication to the allies in the same manner ; but, 
like Frederick, he was carrying on the war at this time in 
the centre of Germany, and having fallen with his whole 
forces upon Rain, he took the precaution of securing to him- 
self a depot upon which to establish his base of operations. 
By a series of manoeuvres, marked alike by audacity and 
genius, he subsequently compelled the imperial army to aban- 
don its magazines, and retire into Austria for winter-quarters. 



44 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



But these are examples which appear to me should only be 
imitated when we have taken full measure of the capacity 
of our adversary, and above all, when we see no reason to 
apprehend an insurrection in the country to which we trans- 
fer the theatre of war. 

XXXII. 

When an army carries with it a battering train, or large 
convoys of sick and wounded, it cannot march by too short 
a line upon its depots. 

It is above all in mountainous countries, and in those inter- 
spersed with woods and marshes, that it is of importance to 
observe this maxim ; for the convoys and means of transport 
being frequently embarrassed in defile, an enemy, by manoeu- 
vring, may easily disperse the escorts, or make even a success- 
ful attack upon the whole army, when it is obliged, from the 
nature of the country, to march in an extended column. 
XXXIII. 

The art of encamping in position is the same as taking up 
the line in order of battle in this position. To this end, the 
artillery should be advantageously placed, ground should be 
selected which is not commanded or liable to be turned, and, 
as far as possible, the guns should cover and command the 
surrounding country. 

XXXIV. 

When you are occupying a position which the enemy 
threatens to surround, collect your force immediately, and 
menace him with an offensive movement. By this mancEuvre 
you will prevent him from detaching and annoying your 
flanks, in case you should judge it necessary to retire. 

This was the manoeuvre practised by General Dessaix, in 
1778, near Radstadt. He made up for inferiority in numbers 
by audacity, and maintained himself the whole day in posi- 
tion, in spite of the vigorous attacks of the Archduke Charles. 
At night he effected his retreat in good order, and took up a 
position in the rear. 

It was in accordance also with this principle, in the same 
campaign, that General Moreau gave battle at Biberach, to 
secure his retreat by the passes of the Black Mountains. A 



MILITARY MAXI3IS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 45 

few days after, he fought at Schliengen with the same object. 
Placed in good defensive position, he menaced the Archduke 
Charles by a sudden return to the offensive, while his artil- 
lery and baggage were passing the Rhine by the bridge of 
Haningen, and he was making all the necessary dispositions 
for retiring behind that river himself. 

Here, however, I would observe that the execution of such 
offensive demonstrations should be deferred always till to- 
wards the evening, in order that you may not be compro- 
mised by engaging too early in a combat which you cannot 
long maintain with success. Night and the uncertainty of 
the enemy after an affair of this kind, will always favour 
your retreat if it is judged necessary; but, with a view to 
mask the operation more effectually, fires should be lighted 
all along the lines to deceive the enemy, and prevent him 
from discovering this retrograde movement ; for in a retreat 
it is a great advantage to gain a march upon your adversary. 

XXXV. 

Never lose sight of this maxim, that you should establish 
your cantonments at the most distant and best protected 
point from the enemy, especially where a surprise is possible. 
By this means you will have time to unite all your forces 
before he can attack you. 

In the campaign of 1645, Marshal Turenne lost the battle 
of Marienthal by neglecting this principle ; for if, instead of 
reassembling his divisions at Erbsthausen, he had rallied his 
troops at Mergentheim behind the Tauber, his army would 
have been much sooner reunited, and Count Merci, in place 
of finding only 3,000 men to fight at Erbsthausen, (of which 
he was well informed,) would have had the whole French 
army to attack in a position covered by a river. 

Some one having indiscreetly asked Viscount Turenne, how 
he had lost the battle of Marienthal, — " By my own fault," 
replied the Marshal ; " but," added he, " when a man has 
committed no faults in war, he can only have made it a short 
time." 

XXXVI. 

When two armies are in order of battle, and one has to 



46 THE ARMY AND NAVV. 



retire over a bridge, while the other has the circumference 
of the circle open, all the advantages are in favour of the 
latter. It is then a general should show boldness, strike a 
decided blow, and manoeuvre upon the flank of his enemy. 
The victory is in his hands. 

This was the position of the French army at the famous 
battle at Leipzig, which terminated the campaign of 1813 so 
fatally to Napoleon, for the battle of Hanau was of no con- 
sequence comparatively in the desperate situation of that 
army. 

It would appear that in a situation like that of the French 
army previous to the battle of Leipzig, a general should never 
calculate upon any of those lucky chances which may rise 
out of a return to the offensive, but that he should rather 
adopt every possible means to secure his retreat. With this 
view, he should immediately cover himself with good en- 
trenchments, to enable him to repel with inferior numbers 
the attack of the enemy, while his own equipments are cross- 
ing the river. As fast as the troops reach the other side, 
they should occupy positions to protect the passage of the 
rear guard, and this last should be covered by a tete de pont 
as soon as the army breaks up its camp. During the wars 
of the French revolution little regard was paid to entrench- 
ments by the European powers ; and it is for this reason we 
have seen large armies dispersed after a single reverse, and 
the fate of nations compromised by the issue of one battle. 
XXXVII. 

It is contrary to all true principle, to make corps which 
have no communication act separately against a central force 
whose communications are open. 

The Austrians lost the battle of Hohenlinden by neglect- 
ing this principle. The imperial army, under the orders of 
the Archduke John, was divided into four columns, which 
had to march through an immense forest, previous to their 
junction in the plain of Anzing, where they intended to sur- 
prise the French. But these different corps, having no direct 
communication, found themselves compelled to engage sepa- 
rately with an enemy who had taken the precaution of con- 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 47 



centrating his masses, and who could move them with faci- 
lity in a country with which he had been long previously 
acquainted. 

Thus the Austrian army, enclosed in the defiles of the 
forest with its whole train of artillery and baggage, was 
attacked in its flanks and rear, and the Archduke John was 
only enabled to rally his dispersed and shattered divisions 
under cover of the night. The trophies obtained by the 
French army on this day were immense. They consisted of 
11,000 prisoners, one hundred pieces of cannon, several stand 
of colours, and all the baggage of the enemy. 

The battle of Hohenlinden decided the fate of the cam- 
paign of 1800, and his brilliant and well-merited success 
placed Moreau in the rank of the first generals of the age. 
XXXVIII. 

When an army is driven from a first position, the retreat- 
ing columns should rally always sufliciently in the rear to 
prevent any interruption from the enemy. The greatest dis- 
aster that can happen, is when the columns are attacked in 
detail, and before their junction. 

One great advantage which results from rallying your 
columns on a point far removed from the field of battle, or 
from the position previously occupied, is that the enemy is 
left in uncertainty of the direction you mean to take. 

If he divides his force to pursue you, he exposes himself to 
see his detachments beaten in detail, especially if you have 
exerted all due diligence, and effected the junction of your 
troops in sufficient time to get between his columns and dis- 
perse them one after the other. It was by a manoeuvre of 
this kind, in the campaign of Italy in 1799, that General Me- 
las gained the battle of Genola. 

General Championet commanded the French army, and 
endeavoured to cut off* the communication of the Austrians 
with Turin, by employing corps which mancEuvred sepa- 
rately to get into their rear. Melas, who divined his project, 
made a retrograde march, by which he persuaded his adver- 
sary that he was in full retreat, although the real object of 
his movement was to concentrate his forces at the point fixed 



48 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



for the junction of the different detachments of the French 
army, and which he beat and dispersed one after another by 
his great superiority in numbers. The result of this ma- 
ncEuvre, in which the Austrian general displayed vigour, 
decision, and coup d'osil, secured to him the peaceable pos- 
session of Piedmont. 

It was also by the neglect of this principle that General 
Beaulieu, who commanded the Austro-Sardinian army in the 
campaign of 1796, lost the battle of Milesimo after that of 
Montenotte. His object in endeavouring to rally his different 
corps upon Milesimo, was to cover the high roads of Turin 
and Milan ; but Napoleon, aware of the advantages arising 
from the ardour of troops emboldened by recent success, 
attacked him before he could assemble his divisions, and by 
a series of skilful manoeuvres, succeeded in separating the 
combined armies. They retired in the greatest disorder — 
the one by the road of Milan, the other by that of Turin. 

XXXIX. 

A retiring army is not always obliged to fall back upon its 
own frontier ; it may sometimes change the direction of its 
operations, as Frederick did after the siege of Olmutz, in 
1758, who, instead of returning into Silesia, changed his line 
and marched into Bohemia. This measure was also proposed 
to Napoleon before the battle of Leipzig. He was advised 
to approach the Elbe, call in the corps of St. Cyr from Dres- 
den, cross the river about Wittemberg and descend by the 
right bank towards Magdeburg. The Prussian and northern 
armies, being on the left of the Elbe, could have prevented 
the destruction of Berlin, Potsdam and Brandenburg. And 
from Magdeburg, reinforced with its vast garrison, and con- 
nected with the Danes and the corps of Davoust at Hamburg, 
he could have operated by a new line, having his communi- 
cations open by Wesel, Cassel, and all the fortresses of Hol- 
land. There were, however, many and probably superior 
reasons, which made him reject these proposals. 

XL. 

No force should be detached on the eve of battle, because 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 49 



affairs may change during the night, either by the retreat of 
the enemy, or by the arrival of large reinforcements to ena- 
ble him to resume the offensive, and counteract your previous 
dispositions. 

In 1796, the army of the Sambre and the Meuse, com- 
manded by General Jourdan, effected a retreat which was 
rendered still more difficult by the loss of his line of commu- 
nication. Seeing, however, the forces of the Archduke 
Charles disseminated, Jourdan, in order to accomplish his 
retreat upon Frankfort, resolved to open himself a way by 
Wurtzburg, where there were at that moment only two divi- 
sions of the Austrian army. This movement would have 
been attended with success if the French general, believing 
he had simply these two divisions to contend with, had not 
committed the error of separating himself from the corps of 
Le Fevre, which he left at Schweinfurt, to cover the only 
direct communication of the army with its base of operation. 

The commission of this fault at the outset, added to some 
slowness of the march of the French general, secured the 
victory of the Archduke, who hastened to concentrate his 
forces. The arrival of the two divisions also of Kray and 
Wartesleben during the battle, enabled him to oppose 50,000 
men to the French army, which scarcely numbered 30,000 
combatants. This last was consequently beaten and obliged 
to continue its retreat by the mountains of Fuldes, where the 
badness of the roads could be equalled only by the difficulty 
of the country. 

The division of Le Fevre, amounting to 14,000 men, would, 
in all probability, have turned the scale in favour of Jourdan, 
had this last not unfortunately conceived that two divisions 
only were opposing his passage to Wurtzburg. 

XLI. 

When you have resolved to fight a battle, collect your 
whole force ; dispense with nothing ; a single battalion some- 
times decides the day. 

It might here be observed, that it is prudent before a battle 
to fix upon some point in rear of the reserve for the junction 
of the different detachments ; for if, from unforeseen circum- 



50 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



Stances, these detachments should be prevented from joining 
before the action has commenced, they would be exposed, in 
case a retrograde movement should have been found neces- 
sary, to the masses of the enemy. It is desirable also to 
keep the enemy in ignorance of these reinforcements in order 
to employ them with greater effect. A seasonable reinforce- 
ment, says Frederick, renders the success of the battle cer- 
tain, because the enemy will always imagine it stronger than 
it is, and lose courage accordingly. 

XLII. 

Nothing is so rash or so contrary to principle, as to make 
a flank march before an army in position, especially when 
this army occupies heights at the foot of which you are forced 
to defile. 

It was by the neglect of this principle that Frederick was 
beaten at Kolin, in the first campaign of 1757. Notwith- 
standing prodigies of valour, the Prussians lost 15,000 men 
and a great portion of their artillery, while the loss of the 
Austrians did not exceed 5,000 men. The consequence of 
this battle was more unfortunate still, since it obliged the 
King of Prussia to raise the siege of Prague and to evacuate 
Bohemia. 

It was also by making a flank march before the Prussian 
army, that the French lost the battle of Rosbach. 

This imprudent movement was still more to be reprehended, 
because the Prince de Soubise, who commanded the French 
army, had carried his indiscretions so far as to manoeuvre, 
without either advanced guards or flanking corps, in presence 
of the enemy. The result was, that his army, consisting of 
50,000 men, was beaten by six battalions and thirty squad- 
rons. The French lost 7,000 men, twenty-seven standards, 
and a great number of cannon. The Prussians had only 
3,000 men hors de combat. 

Thus, by having forgotten this principle, that a jlank march 
is never to he made before an enemy in line of battle, Frede- 
rick lost his army at Kolin ; and Soubise, at Rosbach, lost 
both his army and his honour. 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 51 



Tl 



XLIII. 

When you determine to risk a battle, reserve to yourself 
every possible chance of success, more particularly if you 
have to deal with an adversary of superior talent ; for if you 
are beaten, even in the midst of your magazines and your 
communications, woe to the vanquished ! 

We should make war, says Marshal Saxe, without leaving 
anything to hazard ; and in this especially consists the talent 
of a general. But when we have incurred the risk of a 
battle, we should know how to profit by the victory, and not 
merely content ourselves, according to custom, with pos- 
session of the field. 

It was by neglecting to follow up the first success, that the 
Austrian army, after gaining the field of Marengo, saw itself 
compelled on the following day to evacuate the whole of 
Italy. 

General Melas, observing the French in retreat, left the 
direction of the movements of his army to the chief of his 
staff", and retired to Alexandria to repose from the fatigues of 
the day. Colonel Zach, equally convinced with his general 
that the French army was completely broken, and consisted 
only of fugitives, formed the divisions in column of route. 
By this arrangement the imperial army prepared to enter 
upon its victorious march in a formation not less than three 
miles in depth. 

It was near four o'clock when General Dessaix rejoined the 
French army with his division. His presence restored, in 
some degree, an equality between the contending forces ; and 
yet Napoleon hesitated for a moment whether to resume the 
offensive, or to make use of this corps to secure his retreat. 
The ardour of the troops to return to the charge decided his 
irresolution. He rode rapidly along the front of his divisions, 
and addressing the soldiers, " We have retired far enough for 
to-day, you know I always sleep upon the field of battle." 

The army, with unanimous shout, proclaimed to him a pro- 
mise of victory. Napoleon resumed the offensive. The Aus- 
trian advanced guard, panic-struck at the sight of a formi- 
dable and unbroken body presenting itself suddenly at a 



52 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

point where, a few moments before, only fugitives were to be 
seen, went to the right-about, and carried disorder into the 
mass of its columns. Attacked immediately afterwards with 
impetuosity in its front and flank, the Austrian army was 
completely routed. 

Marshal Daun experienced nearly the same fate as General 
Melas, at the battle of Torgau, in the campaign of 1760. 
The position of the Austrian army was excellent. It had its 
left upon Torgau, its right on the plateau of Siptitz, and its 
front covered by a large sheet of water. 

Frederick proposed to turn its right in order to make an 
attack upon the rear. For this purpose he divided his army 
into two corps, the one under the orders of Ziethen, with 
instructions to attack in front, following the edge of the wa- 
ter ; the other, under his own immediate command, with 
which he set out to turn the right of the Austrians ; but 
Marshal Daun having had intimation of the movements of 
the enemy, changed his front by countermarching, and was 
thus enabled to repel the attacks of Frederick, whom he 
obliged to retreat. The two corps of the Prussian army had 
been acting without communication. Zeithen, in the mean- 
time, hearing the fire recede, concluded that the king had 
been beaten, and commenced a movement by his left in order 
to rejoin him; but falling in with two battalions of the 
reserve, the Prussian general profited by this reinforcement 
to resume the offensive. Accordingly he renewed the attack 
with vigour, got possession of the plateau of Siptitz, and soon 
after of the whole field of battle. The sun had already set 
when the King of Prussia received the news of this unex- 
pected good fortune. He returned in all haste, took advan- 
tage of the night to restore order in his disorganized army, 
and the day after the battle occupied Torgau. 

Marshal Daun was receiving congratulations upon his vic- 
tory when he heard that the Prussians had resumed the offen- 
sive. He immediately commanded a retreat, and at day- 
break the Austrians passed the Elbe with the loss of 12,000 
men, 8,000 prisoners, and forty-five pieces of cannon. 

After the battle of Marengo, General Melas, although in 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 53 

the midst of his fortresses and magazines, saw himself com- 
pelled to abandon everything in order to save the wreck of 
his army. General Mack capitulated after the battle of Ulm, 
although in the centre of his own country. 

The Prussians, in spite of their depots and reserve, were 
obliged, after the battle of Jena, and the French after that 
of Waterloo, to lay down their arms. 

Hence we may conclude, that the misfortune that results 
from the loss of a battle, does not consist so much in the de- 
struction of men and of materiel as in the discouragement 
which follows this disaster. The courage and confidence of 
the victors augment in proportion as those of the vanquished 
diminish ; and whatever may be the resources of an army, it 
will be found that retreat will degenerate rapidly into a 
rout, unless the general-in-chief shall succeed, by combining 
boldness with skill, and perseverance with firmness, in restor- 
ing the morale of his army. 

XLIV. 

The duty of an advanced guard does not consist in advanc- 
ing or retiring, but in manoeuvring. An advanced guard 
j should be composed of light cavalry, supported by a reserve 
I of heavy guards, by battalions of infantry, supported also by 
artillery. An advanced guard should consist of picked 
troops, and the general officers, officers and men, should be 
selected for their respective capabilities and knowledge. A 
corps deficient in instruction, is only an embarrassment to an 
advanced guard. 

It was the opinion of Frederick, that an advanced guard 
should be composed of detachments of troops of all arms. 
The commander should possess skill in the choice of ground, 
and he should take care to be instantly informed, by means 
of numerous patroles, of everything passing in the enemy's 
camp. 

In war, it is not the business of the advanced guard to 
fight, but to observe the enemy, in order to cover the move- 
ments of the army. When in pursuit, the advanced guard 
should charge with vigour, and cut off" the baggage and insu- 
lated corps of the retiring enemy. For this purpose it should 



54 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



be reinforced with all the disposable light cavalry of the 
army. 

XLV. 

When the Athenians were in a state of hostility with 
Philip of Macedon, Demosthenes, who was an advocate of 
the war, advised the Athenians to make the war at the great- 
est distance they could from Attica. Phocion, who opposed 
the war, said to him, " My friend, consider not so much where 
we shall fight, as how we shall conquer ; for victory is the only 
thing that can keep the war at a distance : if we are beaten, 
every danger will soon be at our gates." 

XLVI. 

It is contrary to all the usages of war, to allow parks or 
batteries of artillery to enter a defile unless you hold the 
other extremity. In case of retreat, the guns will embarrass 
your movements and be lost. They should be left in position 
under a sufficient escort until you are master of the opening. 

Nothing encumbers the march of an army so much as a 
quantity of baggage. In the campaign of 1796, Napoleon 
abandoned his battering train under the wall of Mantua, after 
spiking his guns and destroying the carriages. By this sacri- 
fice, he acquired a facility of manoeuvring rapidly his little 
army, and obtained the initiative as well as a general supe- 
riority over the numerous but divided forces of Marshal 
Wurmser. 

In 1799, during his retreat in Italy, General Moreau being 
compelled to manoeuvre among the mountains, preferred sepa- 
rating himself entirely from his reserve artillery, which he 
directed upon France by the Col de Fenestrelle, rather than 
embarrass his march with this part of his equipment. 

XLVII. 
Plutarch tells us that when Alexander the Great besieged 
Sisimethres upon a rock extremely steep and apparently in- 
accessible, and saw his men greatly discouraged at the enter- 
prise, he asked Oxyartes, " Whether Sisimethres was a man 
of spirit ?" And being answered, " That he was timorous 
and dastardly," he said, " You inform me the rock may he 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 55 



taken, since there is no strength in its defender." He intimi- 
dated Sisimethres, and made himself master of the fort. 

XLVIII. 

It should be laid down as a principle, never to leave inter- 
vals by which the enemy can penetrate between corps formed 
in order of battle, unless it be to draw him into a snare. 

In the campaign of 1757, the Prince of Lorraine, who was 
covering Prague with the Austrian army, perceived the Prus- 
sians threatening, by a flank movement, to turn his right. He 
immediately ordered a partial change of front by throwing 
back the infantry of that wing, so as to form a right angle 
with the rest of the line. But this manoeuvre being executed 
in presence of the enemy, was not eflected without some dis- 
order. The heads of the columns having marched too quick, 
caused the rear to lengthen out, and when the line was formed 
to the right, a large interval appeared at the salient angle. 
Frederick, observing this error, hastened to take advantage 
of it. He directed his centre corps, commanded by the Duke 
of Bevern, to throw itself into this opening, and by this ma- 
noeuvre decided the fate of the battle. 

The Prince of Lorraine returned to Prague, beaten and 
pursued, with the loss of 16,000 men, and two hundred pieces 
of cannon. 

It should be observed at the same time, that this operation 
of throwing a corps into the intervals made by an army in 
line of battle, should never be attempted unless you are at 
least equal in force, and have an opportunity of outflanking 
the enemy on the one side or on the other ; for it is then only 
you can hope to divide his army in the centre, and insulate 
the wings entirely. If you are inferior in number, you run 
the risk of being stopped by the reserve, and overpowered 
by the enemy's wings, which may deploy upon your flank 
and surround you. 

XLIX. 

The right ordering of an army, whether in marching, fight- 
ing, or encamping, is but a small part of the office of a gene- 
ral, said Socrates : for he must likewise take care that none 



56 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



of the necessaries of war be wanting, and that his soldiers 
are supplied with everything needful, as well for their health 
as daily subsistence. He should be diligent, patient, fruitful 
in expedient, quick in apprehension, unwearied in labour; 
mildness and severity must each have their place in him : 
equally able to secure his own, and take away that which 
belongeth to another. Open, yet reserved ; rapacious, yet 
profuse ; generous, yet avaricious ; cautious, yet bold ; be- 
sides many other talents, both natural and acquired, are 
necessary for him who would discharge properly the duties 
of a good general. Yet I do not esteem the right disposition 
of an army a slight thing ; on the contrary, said he, nothing 
can be of so much importance, since, without order, no advan- 
tage can arise from numbers any more than from stones, and 
bricks, and tiles, and timbers, thrown together at random ; 
but when they are disposed in their proper places, we may 
see a regular edifice arising, which afterward becomes no 
inconsiderable part of our possessions. 

L. 

When the enemy's army is covered by a river, upon which 
he holds several tetes de ponts, do not attack in front. This 
would divide your force and expose you to be turned. Ap- 
proach the river in echelon of columns, in such a manner 
that the leading columns shall be the only one the enemy can 
attack without offering you his flank. In the meantime let 
your light troops occupy the bank, and when you have de- 
cided on the point of passage, rush upon it and fling across 
your bridge. Observe, that the point of passage should be 
always at a distance from the leading echelon, in order to 
deceive the enemy. 

If you occupy a town or village on the bank of a river, 
opposite to that held by the enemy, it is an advantage to 
make this spot the crossing point, because it is easier to cover 
your carriages and reserve artillery, as well as to mask the 
construction of your bridge in a town than in the open coun- 
try. It is also a great advantage to pass a river opposite a 
village when this last is only weakly occupied ; because as 
soon as the advanced guard reaches the other side, it carries 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 57 

this post, makes a lodgment, and by throwing up a few de- 
fensive works, converts it easily into a tete de pont. 

By this means, the rest of the army is enabled to effect 
the passage with facility. 

LI. 

From the moment you are master of a position which com- 
mands the opposite bank, facilities are acquired for effecting 
the passage of the river; above all, if this position is suffi- 
ciently extensive to place upon it artillery in force. This 
advantage is diminished, if the river is more than six hun- 
dred yards in breadth, because the distance being out of the 
range of grape, it is easy for the troops which defend the 
passage to line the bank and get under cover. Hence it fol- 
lows, that if the grenadiers ordered to pass the river for the 
protection of the bridge, should reach the other side, they 
would be destroyed by the fire of the enemy, because his 
batteries, placed at the distance of four hundred yards from 
the landing, are capable of the most destructive effect, 
although removed above one thousand yards from the batte- 
ries of the crossing force. Thus the advantage of the artil- 
lery would be exclusively his. For the same reason, the 
passage is impracticable unless you succeed in surprising the 
enemy, and are protected by an intermediate island, or unless 
you are able to take advantage of an angle in the river to 
establish a cross-fire upon his works. In this case, the island 
or angle forms a natural tete de pont, and gives advantage in 
artillery to the attacking army. When a river is less than 
one hundred and twenty yards in breadth, and you have a 
post upon the other side, the troops which are thrown across 
derive such advantage from the protection of your artillery, 
that, however small the angle may be, it is impossible for the 
enemy to prevent the establishment of a bridge. In this case, 
the most skilful generals, when they have discovered the pro- 
ject of their adversary, and brought their own army to the 
point of crossing, usually content themselves with opposing 
the passage of the bridge, by forming a semicircle round its 
extremity, as round the opening of a defile, and removing to 



8 



58 THE AUMY AND NAVY. 



the distance of six or eight hundred yards from the fire of the 
opposite side. 

Frederick observes, that the passage of great rivers in the 
presence of the enemy, is one of the most delicate operations 
in war. Success on these occasions depends on secrecy, on 
the rapidity of the manoeuvres, and the punctual execution 
of the orders given for the movements of each division. To 
pass such an obstacle in presence of an enemy, and without 
his knowledge, it is necessary not only that the previous dis- 
positions should be well conceived, but that they should be 
executed without confusion. 

In the campaign of 1705, Prince Eugene of Savoy, wish- 
ing to come to the assistance of the Prince of Piedmont, 
sought for a favourable point at which to force the passage of 
the Adda, defended at that time by the French army under 
the command of the Duke of Vendome. 

After having selected an advantageous situation, Prince 
Eugene erected a battery of twenty pieces of cannon, on a 
position which commanded the entire of the opposite banks, 
and covered his infantry by a line of entrenched parallels, 
constructed on the slope of the declivity. 

They were working vigorously at the bridge, when the 
Duke of Vendome appeared with his whole army. At first 
he seemed determined to oppose its construction, but after 
having examined the position of Prince Eugene, he judged 
this to be impracticable. 

He therefore placed his army out of reach of the prince's 
batteries, resting both his wings upon the river, so as to form 
a bow, of which the Adda was the chord. He then covered 
himself with entrenchments and abbatis, and was thus ena- 
bled to charge the enemy's columns whenever they debouched 
from the bridge, and to beat them in detail. 

Eugene having reconnoitred the position of the French, 
considered the passage impossible. He therefore withdrew 
the bridge and broke up his camp during the night. 

LIT. 

It is difficult to prevent an enemy supplied with pontoons, 
from crossing a river. When the object of an army which 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 59 

defends the passage is to cover a siege, the moment the gene- 
ral has ascertained his inability to oppose the passage, he 
should take measures to arrive before the enemy, at an inter- 
mediate position between the river he defends and the place 
he desires to cover. 

Here it may be observed, that this intermediate position 
should be reconnoitred, or rather well entrenched, before- 
hand ; for the enemy will be unable to make an offensive 
movement against the corps employed in the siege, until he 
has beaten the army of observation ; and this last, under 
cover of its camp, may always await a favourable opportu- 
nity to attack him in flank or in rear. 

Besides, the army which is once entrenched in this manner, 
has the advantage of being concentrated ; while that of the 
enemy must act in detachments, if he wishes to cover his 
bridge and watch the movements of the army of observation, 
so as to enable him to attack the besieging corps in its line, 
without being exposed to an attempt on his rear, or being 
menaced with the loss of his bridge. 

LIII. 
In the campaign of 1645, Turenne was attacked with his 
army before Philipsburg, by a very superior force. There 
was no bridge here over the Rhine, but he took advantage of 
the ground between the river and the place to establish his 
camp. This should serve as a lesson to engineer officers, not 
merely in the construction of fortresses, but of tetes de pont. 
A space should always be left between the fortress and the 
river, where an army may form and rally without being 
obliged to throw itself into the place, and thereby compro- 
mise its security. An army retiring upon Mayence before a 
pursuing enemy, is necessarily compromised ; for this reason, 
because it requires more than a day to pass the bridge, and 
because the lines of Cassel are too confined to admit an army 
to remain there without being blocked up. Four hundred 
yards should have been left between that place and the Rhine. 
It is essential, that all tetes de pont before great rivers should 
be constructed upon this principle, otherwise they will prove 
a very inefficient assistance to protect the passage of a re- 



60 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



treating army. Tetes de pont, as laid down in the French 
schools, are of use only for small fivers, the passage of which 
is comparatively short. 

Marshal Saxe, in the campaign of 1741, having passed the 
Moldau in quest of a detachment of 14,000 men, which was 
about to throw itself into Prague, left a thousand infantry 
upon that river, with orders to entrench themselves upon a 
height directly opposite the tete de pont. By this precaution 
the marshal secured his retreat, and also the facility of repass- 
ing the bridge without disorder, by rallying his divisions 
between the entrenched height and the tete de pont, 

LIV. 

Encampments of the same army should always be formed 
so as to protect each other. 

At the battle of Dresden, in the campaign of 1813, the 
camp of the allies, although advantageously placed upon the 
heights on the left bank of the Elbe, was nevertheless ex- 
tremely defective, being traversed longitudinally by a deep 
ravine, which separated the left wing completely from the 
centre and the heights. This vicious formation did not escape 
the penetrating eye of Napoleon. He instantly carried the 
whole of his cavalry and two corps of infantry against the 
insulated wing, attacked it with superior numbers, overthrew 
it, and took 10,000 prisoners before it was possible to come 
to its support. 

LV. 

Lloyd says that sieges should never be undertaken but 
with the following views : 1st, when fortresses are situated 
upon the passages which lead to the enemy, so as to render 
it impossible to penetrate without capturing them ; 2d, when 
they intercept the communications, and the country is unable 
to furnish the necessary subsistence ; 3d, when they are 
wanted to cover magazines formed in the country, and thereby 
to facilitate the operations ; 4th, when the enemy has consi- 
derable depots within the fortress, of which he is absolutely 
in want ; 5th, when the capture of a fortress produces the 
conquest of a considerable tract of country, and enables the 
besiegers to winter in that vicinity. To these may be added, I 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 61 



6th, the recapture of a fortress essential in the defence of a 
frontier. 

As Lloyd has just told us when to undertake a siege, we 
will now hear Napoleon, who tells us how to do it. 

There are only two ways of insuring the success of a 
siege. The first, to begin by beating the enemy's army em- 
ployed to cover the place; forcing it out of the field, and 
throwing its remains beyond some great natural obstacle, such 
as a chain of mountains or large river. Having accomplished 
this object, an army of observation should be placed behind 
the natural obstacle, until the trenches are finished and the 
place taken. 

But if it be desired to take the place in presence of a reliev- 
ing army without risking a battle, then the whole material 
and equipment for a siege are necessary to begin with, toge- 
ther with ammunition and provisions for the presumed period 
of its duration, and also lines of contravallation and circum- 
vallation, aided by all the localities of heights, woods, marshes 
and inundations. 

Having no longer occasion to keep up communications with 
your depots, it is now only requisite to hold in check the 
relieving army. For this purpose an army of observation 
should be formed, whose business it is never to lose sight of 
that of the enemy, and which, while it eflfectually bars all 
access to the place, has always time enough to arrive upon 
his flanks or rear in case he should attempt to steal a march. 

It is to be remembered too, that by profiting judiciously 
by the lines of contravallation, a portion of the besieiring 
army will always be available in giving battle to the ap- 
proaching enemy. 

Upon the same general principle, when a place is to be 
besieged in presence of an enemy's army, it is necessary to 
cover the siege by lines of circumvallation. 

If the besieging force is of numerical strength enough 
(after leaving a corps before the place four times the amount 
of the garrison) to cope with the relieving army, it may 
remove more than one day's march from the place ; but if it 
is inferior in nurSbers, after providing for the siege as above 



62 TUE ARMY AND NAVY. 

Stated, it should remain only a short day from the spot, in 
order to fall back upon its lines if necessary, or receive suc- 
cour in case of attack. 

If the investing corps and army of observation are only 
equal, when united, to the relieving force, the besieging army 
should remain entire, within or near its lines, and push the 
works and the siege with the greatest activity. 

When we undertake a siege, says Montecuculli, we should 
not seek to place ourselves opposite the weakest part of the 
fortress, but at the point most favourable for establishing a 
camp and executing the designs we have in view. This 
maxim was well understood by the Duke of Warwick. Sent 
to form the siege of Nice, in 1706, he determined to attack 
on the side of Montalban, contrary to the advice of Vauban, 
and even to the orders of the king. Having a very small 
army at his disposal, he began by securing his camp. This 
he did by constructing redoubts upon the heights that shut 
in the space between the Var and the Paillon, two rivers 
which supported his flanks. By this means he protected him- 
self against a surprise ; for, the Duke of Savoy having the 
power of debouching suddenly by the Col de Tende, it was 
necessary that the marshal should be enabled to move rapidly 
upon his adversary, and fight him before he got into position, 
otherwise his inferiority in numbers would have obliged him 
to raise the siege. 

When Marshal Saxe was besieging Brussels with only 
28,000 men, opposed to a garrison of 12,000, he received 
intelligence that the Prince of Waldeck was assembling his 
forces to raise the siege. Not being strong enough to form 
an army of observation, the marshal reconnoitred the field of 
battle on the little river Volave, and made all the necessary 
dispositions for moving rapidly to the spot in case of the ap- 
proach of the enemy. By this means he was prepared to 
receive his adversary without discontinuing the operations of 
the siege. 

LVI. 

If circumstances prevent a sufficient garrison being left to 
defend a fortified town which contains an hospital and maga- 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 63 

zines, at least every means should be employed to secure the 
citadel against a coup de main. 

A few battalions dispersed about a town inspire no ter- 
ror, but shut up in the narrow outline of a citadel, they 
assume an imposing attitude. For this reason it appears that 
such a precaution is always necessary, not only in fortresses, 
but wherever there are hospitals or depots of any kind. 
Where there is no citadel, some quarter of the town should 
be fixed upon most favourable for defence, and entrenched in 
such a manner as to oppose the greatest resistance possible. 

LVII. 

A fortified place can only protect the garrison and arrest 
the enemy for a certain time. When this time has elapsed, 
and the defences are destroyed, the garrison should lay down 
its arms. All civilized nations are agreed on this point, and 
there never has been an argument except with reference to 
the greater or less degree of defence which a defender is 
bound to make before he capitulates. At the same time, 
there are generals, Villars among the number, who are of 
opinion that the commander should never surrender, but that 
in the last extremity he should blow up the fortifications, and 
take advantage of the night to cut his way through the be- 
sieging army. Where he is unable to blow up the fortifica- 
tions, he may always retire, they say, with the garrison, and 
save the men. 

Officers who have adopted this line of conduct, have often 
brought off three-fourths of their garrison. 

In 1705 the French, who were besieged in Haguenau by 
Count Thungen, found themselves incapable of sustaining an 
assault. Peri, the governor, who had already distinguished 
himself by a vigorous defence, despairing of being allowed 
to capitulate on any terms short of becoming prisoners of 
war, resolved to abandon the place, and cut his way through 
the besiegers. 

In order to conceal his intention more effectually, and, 
while he deceived the enemy, to sound at the same time the 
disposition of his officers, he assembled a council of war, and 
declared his resolution to die in the breach. Then, under 



64 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



pretext of the extremity to which he was reduced, he com- 
manded the whole garrison under arms, and leaving only a 
few sharp-shooters in the breach, gave the order to march, 
and set out in silence under cover of the night from Haguenau. 
This audacious enterprise was crowned with success, and 
Peri reached Saverne without having suffered the smallest 
loss. 

In a situation like this, much depends upon circumstances 
as to the course most proper to be pursued. As all real 
strength is founded in the mind, the courage and abilities of 
the officers and the spirit of the soldiers are among the pri- 
mary considerations. 

LVIII. 

The keys of a fortress are well worth the retirement of the 
garrison, when it is resolved to yield only on those condi- 
tions. On this principle, it is always wiser to grant an ho- 
nourable capitulation to a garrison, which has made a vigor- 
ous resistance, than to risk an assault. 

Marshal Villars has observed, that no commander of a 
place should be permitted to excuse himself for surrendering, 
on the ground of wishing to preserve his troops. Every gar- 
rison that displays courage will escape being prisoners of 
war ; for there is no general who, however well assured of 
carrying a place by assault, will not prefer granting terms 
of capitulation, rather than risk the loss of a thousand men 
in forcing determined troops to surrender. 

LIX. 

A general can only bring his soldiers to obedience by con- 
V incing them of his superior knowledge and skill ; for, says 
Socrates, all men willingly submit to those whom they believe 
the most skilful ; in sickness, to the best physician ; in a storm, 
to the best pilot. 

This maxim is too obvious to require any illustration, a 
number of which we might find in our own country, but all 
these we shall reserve until we come to describe the Ameri- 
can campaigns. 

Infantry, cavalry, and artillery, are nothing without each 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 65 



Other. They should always be so disposed in cantonments 
as to assist each other in case of surprise. 

A general, says Frederick, should direct his whole atten- 
tion to the tranquillity of his cantonments, in order that the 
soldier may be relieved from all anxiety, and repose in secu- 
rity from his fatigues. With this view, care should be taken 
that the troops are able to form rapidly upon ground which 
has been previously reconnoitred ; that the generals remain 
always with their divisions or brigades, and that the service 
is carried on throughout with exactness. 

LXI. 
The practice of mixing small bodies of infantry and cav- 
alry together is a bad one, and attended with many inconve- 
niences. The cavalry loses its powers of action ; it becomes 
fettered in all its movements ; its energy is destroyed ; even 
the infantry itself is compromised, for on the first movement 
of the cavalry it is left without support. The best mode of 
protecting cavalry is to cover its flanks. 

LXII. 

Charges of cavalry are equally useful at the beginning, the 
middle, and the end of a battle. They should be made, 
always, if possible, on the flank of the infantry, especially 
when this last is engaged in front. 

The Archduke Charles, in speaking of cavalry, recommends 
that it should be brought in mass upon a decisive point, when 
the moment of employing it arrives ; that is to say, when it 
can attack with a certainty of success. As the rapidity of 
its movements enables cavalry to act along the whole line in 
the same day, the general who commands it should keep it 
together as much as possible, and avoid dividing it into many 
detachments. When the nature of the ground admits of 
cavalry being employed on all points of the line, it is desi- 
rable to form it in columns behind the infantry, and in a 
position whence it may be easily directed wherever it is 
required. If cavalry is intended to cover a position, it should 
be placed sufficiently in the rear to meet at full speed any 
advance of troops coming to attack that position. If it is 
9 17 



66 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



destined to cover the flank of the infantry, it should, for the 
same reason, be placed directly behind it. As the object of 
cavalry is purely offensive, it should be a rule to form it at 
such a distance only from the point of collision, as to enable 
it to acquire its utmost impulse, and arrive at the top of its 
speed into action. With respect to the cavalry reserve, this 
should only be employed at the end of a battle, either to ren- 
der the success more decisive, or to cover the retreat. 

Napoleon remarks that, at the battle of Waterloo, the ca- 
valry of the guard, which composed the reserve, was engaged 
against his orders. He complains of having been deprived 
from five o'clock of the use of this reserve, which, when well 
employed, had so often insured him the victory. 

LXIII. 

It is not only the business of cavalry to follow up the vic- 
tory and prevent the beaten enemy from rallying, but it is 
of the greatest importance to victor or vanquished to have a 
body of cavalry in reserve to take advantage of victory, or 
to secure retreat. 

'^LXIV. 

Artillery is more essential to cavalry than to infantry, be- 
cause cavalry has no fire for its defence, but depends upon 
the sabre. It is to remedy this deficiency that recourse has 
been had to horse artillery. Cavalry, therefore, should never 
be without cannon, whether when attacking, rallying, or in 
position. 

Horse artillery is an invention of Frederick. Austria lost 
no time in introducing it into her armies, although in an im- 
perfect degree. It was only in 1792, that this arm was 
adopted in France, where it was brought rapidly to its pre- 
sent perfection. 

LXV. 

Artillery should always be placed in the most advantageous 
positions, and as far in front of the line of cavalry and infan- 
try, without compromising the safety of the guns, as possible. 

Field batteries should command the whole country round, 
from the level of the platform. They should on no account 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 67 



be masked on the right and left, but have free range in every 
direction. 

The battery of eighteen pieces of cannon, which covered 
the centre of the Russian army at the battle of La Moskwa 
(Borodino), may be cited as an example. 

Its position, upon a circular height which commanded the 
field in every direction, added so powerfully to its effects, that 
its fire alone sufficed, for a considerable time, to paralyze the 
vigorous attack made by the French with their right. Al- 
though twice broken, the left of the Russian army closed to 
this battery, as to a pivot, and twice recovered its former 
position. After repeated attacks, conducted with a rare intre- 
pidity, the battery was at length carried by the French, but 
not till they had lost the elite of their army, and with it the 
generals Caulincourt and Montbrun. Its capture decided the 
retreat of the Russian left. 

LXVI. 

All information obtained from prisoners should be received 
with caution, and estimated at its real value. A soldier sel- 
dom sees anything beyond his company ; and an officer can 
aflford intelligence of little more than the position and move- 
ments of the division to which his regiment belongs. On this 
account, the general of an army should never depend upon 
the information derived from prisoners, unless it agrees with 
the reports received from the advanced guards, in reference 
to the positions, &c., of the enemy. 

Montecuculli wisely observes, that prisoners should be in- 
terrogated separately, in order to ascertain, by the agreement 
in their answers, how far they may be endeavouring to mis- 
lead you. 

LXVII. 

There is but one honourable mode of becoming prisoners of 
war. That is by being taken separately ; by which is meant, 
by being cut off entirely, and when we can no longer make 
use of our arms. In this case there can be no conditions, for 
honour can impose none : we yield to an irresistible fate. 

There is always time enough to surrender prisoners of war. 
This should be deferred, therefore, till the last extremity. 



68 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



During the French revolution, the captain of grenadiers, 
Dubrenil, of the 37th regiment of the line, having been sent 
on a detachment with his company, was stopped on the march 
by a large party of Cossacks, who surrounded him on every 
side. Dubrenil formed his little force into square, and endea- 
voured to gain the skirts of a wood (within a few muskets' 
shot of the spot where he had been attacked), and reached it 
with very little loss. But as soon as the grenadiers saw this 
refuge secured to them, they broke and fled, leaving their 
captain and a few brave men, who were resolved not to aban- 
don him, at the mercy of the enemy. In the meantime the 
fugitives, who had rallied in the depth of the wood, ashamed 
of having forsaken their leader, came to the resolution of res- 
cuing him from the enemy if a prisoner, or of carrying off" 
his body if he had fallen. With this view they formed once 
more upon the outskirts, and opening a passage w^th their 
bayonets through the cavalry, penetrated to their captain, 
who, notwithstanding seventeen wounds, was defending him- 
self still. They immediately surrounded him, and regained 
the wood with little loss. This shows how much may be 
achieved in war by determined energy and sustained resolu- 
tion. 

LXVIII. 

The first qualification of a general-in-chief is a cool head — 
that is, a head which receives just impressions, and estimates 
things and objects at their real value. He must not allow 
himself to be elated by good news, or depressed by bad. 

The impressions he receives, either successively or simul- 
taneously, in the course of the day, should be so classed as to 
take up only the exact place in his mind which they deserve 
to occupy; since it is upon a just comparison of the weight 
due to different impressions, that the power of reasoning and 
of right judgment depends. 

Some men are so physically and morally constituted as to 
see everything through a highly coloured medium. They 
raise up a picture in the mind on every slight occasion, and 
give to every trivial occurrence a dramatic interest. But 
whatever knowledge, or talent, or courage, or other good 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 69 

qualities such men may possess, nature has not formed them 
for the command of armies, or the direction of great military 
operations. 

The first quality of a general-in-chief, says Montecuculli, 
is a great knowledge of the art of war. This is not intuitive, 
but the result of experience. A man is not born a com- 
mander ; he must become one. Not to be anxious ; to be 
always cool ; to avoid confusion in his commands ; never to 
change countenance ; to give his orders in the midst of battle 
with as much composure as if he were perfectly at ease, — 
these are the proofs of valour in a general. 

To encourage the timid ; to increase the number of the 
truly brave ; to revive the drooping ardour of the troops in 
battle ; to rally those who are broken ; to bring back to the 
charge those who are repulsed ; to find resources in difficulty, 
and success even amid disaster ; to be ready at a moment to 
devote himself if necessary for the welfare of his country — 
these are the actions which acquire for a general distinction 
and renown. 

To this enumeration may be added, the talent of discrimi- 
nating character, and of employing every man in the particu- 
lar post which nature has qualified him to fill. My principal 
attention, said Marshal Villars, was always directed to the 
study of the younger generals. Such a one I found by the 
boldness of his character fit to lead a column of attack. An- 
other, from a disposition naturally cautious, but without being 
deficient in courage, more perfectly to be relied on for the 
defence of a place. It is only by a just application of these 
personal qualities to their respective objects, that it is possible 
to command success in war. 

LXIX. 

To know the country thoroughly ; to be able to conduct a 
reconnoissance with skill ; to superintend the transmission of 
orders promptly ; to lay down the most complicated move- 
ments intelligibly, but in a few words and with simplicity ; 
these are the leading qualifications which should distinguish 
an officer selected for the head of the staff. 

Formerly the duties of the chief of the staff were confined 



70 THE ARMY AND NAVV. 



to the necessary preparations for carrying the plan of the 
campaign, and the operations resolved on by the general-in- 
chief, into effect. In a battle they were only employed in 
directing movements, and superintending their execution. 
But in the late European wars the officers of the staff were 
frequently entrusted with the command of a column of attack, 
or of large detachments, when the general-in-chief feared to 
disclose the secret of his plans by the transmission of orders 
or instructions. Great advantages have resulted from this 
innovation, although it was long resisted. By this means the 
staff have been enabled to perfect their theory by practice ; 
and they have acquired, moreover, the esteem of the soldiers 
and junior officers of the line, who are easily led to think 
lightly of their superiors, whom they do not see fighting in 
the ranks. The generals who have held the arduous situation 
of chief of the staff during the wars of the French revolu- 
tion, have almost always been employed in the different 
branches of the profession. Marshal Berthier, who filled so 
conspicuously this appointment to Napoleon, was distinguished 
by all the essentials of a general ; he possessed calm, and at 
the same time brilliant courage, excellent judgment, and ap- 
proved experience. He bore arms during half a century, 
made war in the four quarters of the globe, opened and ter- 
minated thirty-two campaigns. In his youth he acquired, 
under the eye of his father, who was an engineer officer, the 
talent of tracing plans and finishing them with exactness, as 
well as the preliminary qualifications necessary to form a 
staff officer. Admitted by the Prince de Lambesq into his 
regiment of dragoons, he was taught the skilful management 
of his horse and his sword, accomplishments so important to 
a soldier. Attached afterwards to the staff of Count Ro- 
chambeau, he made his first campaign in the United States, 
where he soon began to distinguish himself by his valour, 
activity and talents. His subsequent history is connected 
with the wars of Napoleon. 

LXX. 
Napoleon says, Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne, and Frede- 
rick, as well as Alexander, Hannibal and Caesar, have all 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 71 

acted upon the same principles. These have been, to keep 
their forces united — to leave no weak part unprotected — to 
seize with rapidity on important points. He then advises his 
generals to peruse again and again the campaigns of Alexan- 
der, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, Turenne, Eugene 
and Frederick : to model themselves upon them as the means 
of becoming a great captain, and of acquiring the secret of 

the art of war. 

LXXI. 

Such are the war maxims which have resulted from the 
experience of the great warriors of ancient and modern times 
in the old world. 

The maxims of our warriors will be given practically here- 
after, when it will be seen that our fundamental maxim is to 
give a sound beating to any nation that sets a hostile foot on 
our shores, or insults our flag on the sea, according to circum- 
stances ! — Illustrations. Revolution, the late War, &c. 

Principles of Dispositions at the Battle of Waterloo. 

The battle of Waterloo, unquestionably the most decisive 
event of the late awful contest, offers so many instructive 
circumstances, and so much matter for deep meditation, in 
the position and manoeuvres, and in the exhibition of the 
soundest maxims of war, that it may be considered as a gene- 
ral illustration of the advanced state of the art of war at the 
present period. Without entering into details, the minutiae 
of which are apt to confuse, we shall content ourselves with 
merely pointing out the principal dispositive features which 
it displays. As there are many plans more or less correct, 
and the ground is generally known, the remarks which we 
are about to offer will be readily understood by those who 
have any elementary knowledge of war. When Blucher had 
retreated from Ligny, and the Duke of Wellington had fallen 
back from Quatre Bras, he occupied the position of Mont St. 
Jean, determined to risk a battle with the forces he could col- 
lect on that point. Exclusively of the Prussians, whose 
severe loss in killed, wounded, and stragglers, could not im- 
mediately be re-organized or replaced, but by the expected 



72 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



arrival of the corps of Bulow, the duke's army consisted of 
about eighty-one battalions and eighty-seven squadrons, 
which, w^ith the artillery, may have amounted to 66,700 men : 
of these, upwards of thirty battalions and as many squadrons 
had never been in action. 

This mass of forces was posted with the centre diagonally 
across and in front of the forking of the two causeways from 
Brussels to Charleroy and to Nivelles ; the right centre be- 
hind the chateau of Goumont, and the left, considerably 
refused, passed in the rear of La Haye Sainte, along the cross- 
road, in the direction of Ohain : behind the right centre, Lord 
Hill placed his corps, en potence, in columns, prepared to ma- 
noeuvre on his right, on the small plain of Braine la Lend ; 
or, to his left, to sustain the centre. In and about Braine la 
Leud was a Netherland division, with the right thrown for- 
ward, and covered by the rivulet Hain, and leaving the small 
plain open ; a kind of gorge to tempt the enemy between the 
two sides of the re-entering angle of the right wing. The 
Prussians were expected to debouch through the woods of 
Lasne, towards Planchenois, which would form the left into 
another gorge, or re-entering angle. Thus the position formed 
a kind of open W (Fig. 15, A A A A B B), with the chateau 
of Goumont at the summit of the salient angle, covered by a 
plantation of wood and enclosures, occupied by six or eight 
battalions ; so that the enemy could not enfilade, from behind 
that plantation, either of the faces of the centre, nor approach 
on either of the causeways which passed through the centre, 
without presenting his flank. Besides this point, La Haye 
Sainte, a stone farm, close to the Chausse of Charleroy, and 
farther on the left the farm of Papelotte and chateau of Fri- 
chermont, were occupied. The whole front offered a gentle 
slope towards the enemy, and in the rear the cavalry was 
distributed in brigades, each in two lines, covered by the 
rising ground ; and the artillery, all the field-pieces of which 
were nine-pounders or twelves, formed a line of almost con- 
tiguous batteries along the front, interspersed with howitzers 
and rockets. 

By the returns found after the battle it appears that the 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 



73 




10 



74 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

enemy had debouched from Charleroy with 122,000 men, ex- 
clusive of the reinforcements that joined after the 15th of 
June : of these he produced on the field of battle about 80,000 
men, formed in concentrated masses on both sides of the 
Chausse of Charleroy, and gradually advancing the right 
parallel to the British left (C C C C) ; but as he was jealous 
of the woods on the right, he formed an angle to the rear, and 
kept his reserves far back. He had made a demonstration 
with a corps of cavalry beyond the British right, towards 
Hal, where he found the corps of General Colville, and Prince 
Frederick of Orange, with two divisions posted at Tubise, 
Clabbeck, and Braine le Chateau, to cover that avenue to 
Brussels. Another corps, 42,000 strong, under Grouchy, w^as 
detached to his right upon Wavre, to turn the allies, pursue 
or arrest the Prussians, and prevent the timely junction of 
Bulow. Thus the dispositions of both the commanders were 
combined with consummate ability ; Napoleon operating on 
the system of throwing two-thirds of his masses alternately 
on either side, and the allies in combining manoeuvres to 
bring a superior mass on the decisive point. On the field, 
however, the problem was difficult to solve. The communi- 
cation with France was open only by the roads of Charleroy 
and Nivelles, hence the enemy could not quit them in the 
attack ; nor could he gain Brussels by any other avenue than 
that of Waterloo ; therefore, to possess the Chateau of Gou- 
mont, without which he could not arrive at the position, was 
the natural object of the attack. As this was sustained by 
the mass of the allied army, and could not be enfiladed, his 
attacks failed. All those directed on the road of Charleroy 
to the left centre were necessarily oblique, and exposed to the 
fire in flank before they could reach their opponents. To 
have risked a general onset of all his masses, before the Brit- 
ish were thinned and exhausted, he knew, under the circum- 
stances of the moment, to be too hazardous. The plain of 
Braine la Leud appeared open ; he could arrive by it ; but 
that very circumstance proved that the enemy was prepared 
on that side. To have turned the force thither would, in the 
first place, have caused the loss of the communication by 



MILITARY MAXIMS AND WARLIKE OPERATIONS. 75 



Charleroy ; and, next, facilitated the junction of the Prus- 
sians; and, besides, the corps on the other side of the Hain 
flanked the advance, and could, in a short time, be sustained 
by the two divisions in its rear, and which he knew to be at 
hand. He would, therefore, have been placed between two 
fires, and have lost his point of retreat upon Charleroy ; and 
the road by Nivelles might, meantime, be cut off by the 
troops left behind at Mons. Again, if he threw his masses 
towards the left, he only went to meet the Prussians, and left 
the British masters of the road of Nivelles, and possibly, if 
he advanced far, of that of Charleroy. He entangled him- 
self in woods and defiles, where his superior cavalry could 
not act. The character of his opponent bespoke immediate 
offensive movements from the moment his right would be at 
liberty; therefore the chances were again in favour of the 
enemy ; yet this was the only advantageous side, because it 
brought him nearer Grouchy, and, in case of defeat, he could 
take a new line of retreat by Namur. He, however, preferred 
the experiment which the enthusiastic valour of his troops 
might enable him to make ; and this committed him so deeply, 
that, when at length the Prussians appeared, a retreat was 
no longer possible. 

These observations disprove the ignorant assertion, that 
little skill was displayed on either side. The generals and 
the soldiers equally did their duty : the veteran Blucher be- 
haved with just prudence in keeping so long back from the 
dangerous manoeuvre which was assigned him ; and when he 
saw the hostile cavalry destroyed, he acted with vigour and 
skill. As for Grouchy, who wasted his time in forcing the 
position of Wavre across the Dyle, everywhere fordable, his 
manoeuvres show that he fell the danger of his movement, 
and he wisely remained on the banks. Much might be added 
upon the judgment which posted the corps at Wavre, and 
another at Hal, on the several lines of retreat which the allies 
could take in case of defeat, on the dispositions of the artil- 
lery, the squares and lines formed and reduced repeatedly, 
the dispositions and effect of the charges of cavalry, the 
counter-oflTensive of the Prussians, the general charge to the 



76 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



front, and fate of the enemy's squares ; but enough has been 
stated to recommend the study of a battle where the greatest 
commanders and the best manoeuvring armies in Europe strug- 
gled for victory, and decided whether the divine right of kings 
should or should not prevail. 

Having thus given a compilation of the warlike operations 
by land, we shall now proceed to the warlike operations at 
sea, commencing with some general observations upon naval 
actions, from the " French Naval Tactics," as given in the 
Military and Naval Magazine of 1835. 



CHAPTER II. 

WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 

It is necessary, in fleets as well as in single vessels, to con- 
sider the absolute force, or material strength, resulting from 
the number of men and guns ; and the relative force, which 
comprises all that superiority of talents, experience, boldness, 
activity, perseverance, discipline, in short, all that moral 
causes can add to the chances for success. 

A commander cannot double the number of his men or his 
ships ; but he may cause them to acquire a degree of relative 
force, which will be limited only by the extent of his ability, 
and the confidence which it inspires. The application of this 
principle must not, however, be pushed too far ; for at sea, 
where there is no permanent position to be occupied or main- 
tained, it is not always easy to preserve for a long time an 
equality between unequal material forces, when in presence 
of each other. But, if the commander cannot perform im- 
possibilities, it is certain that he may supply, to a certain 
extent, the want of numbers, by his talents for command or 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 



by the excellence of his preparatory arrangements : he may 
also supply the want of numbers, by calling to his aid, when 
opportunities may offer, that principle which is the proper 
basis of every military system, and which demands a vigor- 
ous and powerful attack upon a weak point of your enemy. 

Thus, in consequence of an acquired superiority, or of the 
effects of a favourable position, or, what is still better, by a 
combination of both, a vessel of inferior force may resist an- 
other which is superior. The same may be said of a fleet of 
inferior numbers, even when possessed of no other means of 
balancing that inferiority than the power of throwing his 
whole, or a superior force, on a part of the opposing fleet. 
In this sense, skill consists in obtaining over an opponent the 
advantage of absolute force, by neutralizing a part of his, 
instead of attacking the whole, and engaging with equal 
chances or upon equal terms. 

This being granted, it is apparent that as the power of a 
vessel is in her broadside, whilst her bow and stern are com- 
paratively unarmed, the object to be desired in actions be- 
tween single vessels is to obtain a position, either permanent 
or temporary, which will place the broadside on the bow or 
stern of the enemy. 

By analogy, the same remark will apply to a line of ves- 
sels, of which the extremities are more vulnerable than the 
other parts. An attack upon one of these extremities should, 
therefore, be attempted, since the object of the assailant ought 
generally to be to compel a part of the fleet of the enemy to 
bear the fire of the whole of his own, and thus to destroy it 
in detail. 

These observations lead to some remarks upon the Line of 
Battle, and upon the present system of fleet actions. 

A very close line of ships, which move like one body, cer- 
tainly presents a formidable front. Each ship, besides her 
own force, is supported by her connexion with others, which 
increases the strength of all ; a combination which constitutes 
the advantages and the strength of the line of battle. But 
this combination, excellent in itself, and the best for a regular 
battle, may be destroyed by a change of wind, by a loss of 



78 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



spars, by a fault, or even by the nature of the attack of an 
enemy, as events have shown. 

The art of war is necessarily modified by time, by the 
opinions of men, and by the progress of the arts and sciences, 
which lead to new discoveries. Thus, steam-vessels have 
actually changed many parts of the maritime system of Eu- 
rope. Half a century since, and numerous fleets were ar- 
ranged in line ; they mancEuvred long and ably to obtain, by 
a good position, a partial advantage. A cannonade was kept 
up at a distance, from time to time, and generally the two 
fleets were able to renew the contest after a few days, scarcely 
weakened by the injuries which a small number of their ships 
had sustained. Since about the close of the war of the inde- 
pendence of the United States, the line of battle has been 
broken, and pell-mell actions fought, not accidentally, but in 
pursuance of previous plans. Less art, and more impetuosity, 
has been employed, as though actuated by a mutual desire to 
produce entire destruction, or at least great results. 

In the present situation of things, belligerents will proba- 
bly, in accordance with public opinion, strive to obtain 
prompt and decisive effects. Besides, the expense of large 
fleets begins to excite alarm ; steam navigation has also begun 
to furnish its aid, if not for distant expeditions, at least for 
those operations which are to be performed upon neighbour- 
ing coasts, or in narrow seas, without speaking of the effects 
which certain improvements in artillery, and particularly the 
use of shells, may produce. 

From these changes, which have occurred within the last 
fifty years, it may be concluded that there will be a tendency 
to diminish the numbers of ships in fleets, and that, hereafter, 
less attention will be given to the mere arrangements or dis- 
play of force, and that greater exertions will be made to 
come to close quarters, and to pell-mell actions, or, at least, 
to produce decisive eflfects, at the expense of any regular 
order in which an enemy may appear to place too much con- 
fidence. 

Thus the theory of battle in squadrons is so far definitively 
modified, that the line of battle is no longer to be considered 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 79 

the whole of the system, although now rendered shorter and 
more manageable ; but rather as a powerful means for advan- 
tageously sustaining, or for making an attack which will be 
powerful, and often followed by an intermixture of the con- 
tending ships. Consequently, if battles at sea become more 
rare, they will also be more decisive : success will always 
depend, when numbers are equal, upon the superiority of 
relative force, and upon the ability with which the attack 
may be conducted, and, still more than ever, upon the deter- 
mination of brave commanders, attentive to sustain each 
other, in defence as well as in attack, and to group themselves 
together against opposing groups of less strength. In fact, 
it would be vain for an admiral to expect the successful exe- 
cution of measures which he might direct, if he should not 
be seconded by admirals and captains, whose bravery and 
intelligence could supply the want of signals, and provide at 
the moment for everything which the position of the admiral 
and the rapidity of events might prevent him from seeing or 
directing. Without such complete and well-founded confi- 
dence, a chief cannot act with decision; or, in other words, 
he cannot succeed. 

If it is only by profiting with vigour and promptitude of a 
first advantage, however small it may be, that others more 
important can be secured ; in the same manner, it is only by 
the most energetic measures, that the first successes of an 
enemy can be checked, and victory wrested from him. In 
such circumstances, less regard should be had to our own 
injuries than to those of the enemy, in determining to con- 
tinue or to renew the contest. 

It is not to be inferred from the preceding remarks, that 
the science of combined movements has lost its utility ; on 
the contrary, since battles have become more decisive, it is 
important to conduct them with all possible ability, or to 
avoid them when circumstances are unfavourable. Besides, 
now, as formerly, it depends at least as much on skill as de- 
votedness, to supply upon occasions the want of numbers or 
strength. 

If the system of Heet actions has been modified by the 



80 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



progress of time, so also have those between single vessels. 
At a period when many of the distinguished seamen of whom 
France is proud fought their battles, boarding was the spe- 
cies of attack which was exclusively preferred ; but this has 
been discontinued for a long time, in consequence of the pro- 
gress of naval improvements. 

At this time, more than ever, actions at sea are battles of 
artillery and of manceuvres, and the officer who, preoccupied 
with the idea of boarding, should not seek, and constantly 
endeavour to preserve, a position favourable for the use of his 
guns, would soon experience such injuries as would paralyze 
his bravery, by depriving him of the power of profiting of 
chances for boarding which might afterwards present them- 
selves. 

The means of securing success in a sea-fight, is to use the 
guns skilfully; it is, therefore, indispensable that thorough 
attention should be given to their exercise beforehand ; that 
the captains of guns and others should be good marksmen ; 
and that the whole crew should be instructed in the best 
manner in the management of the ship, so that they may feel 
great confidence whenever anything is to be undertaken or 
executed. A ship, thus prepared, may suddenly approach an 
enemy with safety, or, if necessary, try her skill in inflicting 
gradual injury, by well-directed shot. If the vessel attacked 
is to leeward, it may be advantageous for her to steer with 
the wind abeam, under a press of sail, to compel the assail- 
ant to do the same, and perhaps interfere with the use of his 
guns, or, by repeatedly changing her tack, profit by the posi- 
tion of the enemy, who must approach end on. The assail- 
ant, if to windward, will determine whether it will be best 
for him to take a position on the weather-bow of the enemy, 
engage upon opposite tacks, then go about and place himself 
on the weather-quarter, which is often the best position ; or 
stand across his stern and take a station upon the lee-quarter, 
notwithstanding the inconveniences of that situation : which- 
ever may be adopted, it is proper to observe, that an injury 
inflicted early upon the enemy, by well-directed shot, may 
greatly shorten the action. 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 81 



If an adversary is allowed to take the lead in mancEuvres, 
and to engage at that distance and under those circumstances 
which may be most favourable to him ; or in an action, broad- 
side to broadside, an enemy betrays any indecision, and an 
overwhelming fire shall have cleared his upper decks, then a 
change of the helm only, and a sudden movement, may be all 
that is necessary to finish suddenly, by boarding, an action 
already so far advanced by the eftect of the guns. It may 
also happen that some failure in the evolutions of the enemy, 
or some new error, will present a favourable opportunity, 
which an able opponent will not fail to improve. 

In fleets and squadrons, in the disorder of a broken line 
and intermixture of friends and foes, opportunities for board- 
ing will be more frequent and less difficult. The result will 
be in proportion to the energies of the measures adopted. 

Circumstances may occur, when, notwithstanding great 
disproportion of force, a vessel may save others, or obtain 
favourable chances for herself, by her devotedness or her 
boldness in closing so near an enemy as to inspire a fear of 
being boarded under circumstances favourable to the assail- 
ant. 

As respects steam-vessels, it may be presumed that, as they 
facilitate sudden movements, they may second the ardour and 
boldness of the national character. 

For the purpose of engaging in certain predetermined 
modes, and to supply for certain details the insufficiency of 
signals, it sometimes happens that admirals can usefully con- 
fine themselves to plans of operations, of which they furnish 
complete explanations to the captains under their orders. 
These plans ought to be few in number, perfectly simple and 
clear, and the explanations short ; for, if the main object be- 
longs to the chief, the incidents of detail necessarily devolve 
upon those who are to carry it into execution. 

If the weather fleet has the great advantage of being mas- 
ter of its plans of attack, the lee fleet has sometimes the ad- 
vantage of the faults of the other. Such may be the case 
when, regardless of breaking the line of battle, the lee fleet 
can be separated, without inconvenience, into two or three 
__ 



82 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



divisions ; provided all act in concert, and under the inspira- 
tion of that cool bravery which usually leads to success. 

The most general remark upon this question is, that every 
plan of attack is good, if it renders a part of the force of the 
enemy useless ; or, if it places a part of it under the fire of a 
superior force. The object to be desired being always, as 
has already been observed, to have the superiority upon some 
point, and then to profit suddenly by that advantage. 

A war of cruises, by detached divisions, within proper 
limits, and in connexion with some general plan of hostilities, 
may have its influence upon the final result of a war ; this 
species of warfare requires that the squadrons should be 
commanded by able and active chiefs, who have great 
resources in themselves, and in their knowledge of the locali- 
ties where they are to carry the war. 

Desirous to lay before our readers the best information on 
warlike operations, we shall give, entire, the illustrations of 
naval tactics by a late European author, which will be a new 
subject to many unconnected with the navy. 

By JYaval Tactics is understood the art of arranging fleets 
or squadrons in such an order or disposition as may be most 
convenient for attacking the enemy, defending themselves, or 
of retreating with the greatest advantage. Naval tactics are 
founded on those principles which time and experience have 
enabled us to deduce from the improved state of modern 
naval warfare, which has occasioned not only a difference in 
the mode of constructing the working ships, but even in the 
total disposition and regulation of fleets and squadrons. We 
here propose to lay down the general principles of naval tac- 
tics, and to describe, as briefly as is consistent with perspi- 
cuity, the most improved systems which have been adopted 
in modern times. 

Ordinary Division of Fleets. 

Fleets are generally divided into three squadrons, the van, 
centre, and rear, each under the command of a flag-oflicer. 
The chief in command of a fleet leads the centre division, 
while the van is commanded by the second in command, and 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 83 



the rear by the third. Each squadron is distinguished by the 
position of the colours in the ships of which it is composed. 
Thus, the ships of the centre squadron carry their pennants 
at the main-top-gallant mast-head, while those of the van 
division have their pennants at the fore-top-gallant mast-head, 
and those of the rear at the mizen-top-mast-head. Each 
squadron, as far as possible, consists of the same number of 
ships, and, as nearly as may be, of the same force. In large 
fleets, the squadrons are sometimes again divided in a similar 
manner. In the usual mode of forming the lines, each com- 
manding officer arranges his ships in the centre of his own 
squadron, and thus the chief commander of the fleet is in the 
centre of the line. When no enemy is in sight, the sloops, 
store-ships, fire-ships, and other small vessels, are dispersed 
to windward of the fleet, that they may be more easily sup- 
ported, and more readily answer signals. The frigates lie to 
windward of the van and rear of the convoy ; thus keeping 
a good look-out, and keeping the small vessels in their proper 
station. When the fleet sails in three columns, the centre 
still keeps in the middle, while the van and rear form the 
starboard or the larboard column, according to circumstances. 
These arrangements are called orders of sailing, and will be 
better understood from the following definitions. 

Definitions. 

The starboard line of hearing is that line on which the 
arranged ships of a fleet bear from each other on a close- 
hauled line, whatever course they may be steering ; so that 
when the ships haul their wind or tack together, they may 
be on a line close-hauled upon the starboard tack. The Uu- 
hoard line of hearing is that line on which the ships, when 
hauling their wind or tacking together, may be formed on a 
line close-hauled on the larboard tack. The ships of a fleet 
are said to be on a line abreast when their keels are parallel 
to each other, and their main-masts lie in the same straight 
line. Ships are said to be in a line on the bow or quarter 
when they are arranged in a straight line, cutting their keels 
obliquely in the same angle ; so that, reckoning from any 



84 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



intermediate ship, the ships towards one extremity of the line 
will be on the bow of that ship, while those towards the other 
extremity will be on her quarter. When several ships in the 
same line steer the same course, while that course is different 
from the line of sailing, they are said to sail chequerwise. 

When the ships of a fleet, arranged in any of the orders of 
sailing, and on the same line, perform successively the same 
manoeuvre, as each gets into the wake of the ship that leads 
the van of the line or squadron, tacking or veering, bearing 
away or coming to the wind in the same point of the wake 
of the leading ship, they are said to marKBUvre in succession. 

Five Orders of Sailing. 

There are usually reckoned five orders of sailing, exclusive 
of the line of battle, the order of retreat, &c. In the first 
order (see Figs. 1 and 2), the fleet is arranged on the star- 
hoard or larboard line of bearing, all the ships steering the 
Fig. 1. Fig. 2. 



V.l l^..#'^ 






^^^ ^••^••^- 



same course. In these cases the fleet, by hauling the wind 
when in the starboard line, as in Fig. 1, will be ready to form 
the line on the starboard tack ; and when ranged on the lar- 
board line of bearing, as in Fig. 2, it will, by tacking, be 
ready to form the line on the larboard tack. The arrows 
annexed to the diagrams mark the direction of the wind, as 
in ordinary charts. 

The first order of sailing is now seldom employed, except 

Y\a. 3. in passing through a narrow strait. 

In the second order of sailing, the fleet, 

steering any proper course, is ranged 

r\ r\f\ r\ f\ f\r\ina line perpendicular to the direction 

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ of the wind, as in Fig. 3. This second 

order, besides being equally defective with the former, is sub- 



I 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 85 



ject to the additional disadvantage of rendering it extremely 
difficult for the ships to tack, without each ship falling on 
board that next astern. 

In the third order of sailing, the whole fleet is close-hauled, 
and ranged on the two lines of bearing, so as to form an 
angle of twelve points, having the chief Fig. 4. 

commander's ship (A, Fig. 4) in the an- 'f 

gular point, and the whole fleet steering tj;>^ .(r>^ 

the same course. Thus, supposing, as in ^N:>5 S<^^ 
the figure, the wind at north, the star- \ 

board division of the fleet will bear W.N.W. of the chief in 
command, and the larboard E.N.E. This order, in small 
fleets or squadrons, is superior to either of the former ; but 
when the fleet is numerous, the line will be too much ex- 
tended. 

In the fourth order, the fleet is divided into six or more 
columns, and is thus more concentrated. The commanders, 
ranged ©n the two lines of bearing, have their squadrons 
astern of them, on two lines parallel to the direction of the 
wind ; the first ships of each column being, with respect to 
the commander of the squadron, the one on his starboard and 
the other on his larboard quarter. The distance between the 
columns should be such that the Fig. 5. 

fleet may readily be reduced to i 

the third order of sailing, and /■>/?, /•>[/> /) /> 
from that to the order of battle. ^ ^ ^ ^ H Y 
This order is adapted for fleets /I VJj /d /^ /I '/^ 
or convoys crossing the ocean, : ; \ \ \ \ 

and is represented in Fig. 5 : ^ ^ Ol ^ '0 
but as it requires much time to \^ \ \. \ \ \ 

reduce a fleet from this order to 'J-f.-iU (j 0./^'0 
that of battle, it is defective """y'h^'P f'"" 

when in presence of an enemy. ^ ^ w 

In the fifth order, the fleet, close-hauled, is arranged in 
three columns parallel to each other, the van commonly form- 
ing the weather, and the rear the lee column. See Fig. 6. 
Fig. 7 represents the same order, except that each colu-snn is 



86 THK ARMY AND NAVY. 

here subdivided into two, with the ship bearing the com- 
mander of each squadron in the centre of each subdivision. 

Fig. 7. 
Fig. 6. 

Order of Battle. 

In forming the order or line of battle, the ships of the fleet 
are drawn up in a line nearly close-hauled, standing under 
easy sail, so that each ship may be at a certain distance from 

the ship immediately ahead? 
as a cable's length, or half 
that distance. The fire-ships 
and frigates ahead and astern, 
form a line parallel to the 

^i^iNr-, former, and to the windward 

''^"■•<cli>-t2s?-^*'^ *^^ ^'^o. ^"^^ of it if the enemy be to the 
^-^ leeward, but to the leeward 
if the enemy be to wind- 
ward. This order is denoted by Fig. 8, where the fleet is 
sailing on the starboard tack, with the wind at north. 

Order of Retreat. 

When a fleet is compelled to retreat before a superior 
force, it is usually arranged in an order the reverse of the 
third order of sailing ; the divisions of the fleet being ranged 
in the two lines of bearing, so as to form an angle of 135°, or 
twelve points, the commander's ship lying in the angular point, 




WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 87 

and the frigates, transports, &c., included within the wings 
to leeward. See Fig. 9, where the fleet is sailing right before 

Fig. 9. 



,^..^^ ^^^. 



the wind. Though any other direction may be taken, the 
two lines stiil form the same angle. 

Order of Convoy, 

The order of convoy is that in which the ships are all in 
each other's wake, steering in the same point of the compass, 
and forming a right line. If the fleet is numerous, it may be 
divided into three columns, which are to be ranged parallel 
to each other, that of the chief commander occupying the 
centre, and all steering the same course. 

Having thus described the ordinary positions of a fleet, we 
must explain the manoeuvres by which they are produced, 
and we shall begin with the orders of sailing. 

Method to form the First Order of Sailing. 

To form a fleet in the first order of sailing, supposing the 
ships to be in no particular order, that ship which is to lead 
on the proposed line of bearing for the order of sailing, runs 
to leeward of the greater part of the fleet, and then hauls 
her wind under an easy sail. Each of the other ships then 
proceeds to take the proper station, by chasing the ship which 
is to be ahead of her, and when in the wake of the leading 
ship, adjusts her quantity of canvas so as to preserve the 
proper distance. The ships thus arranged astern of each 
other are in the line of battle ; and from this the first order 
of sailing is formed, by each ship bearing away at the same 
time, and all steering the proposed course. 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



Second Order of Sailing. 
In forming the second order of sailing, the leading ship 
runs to leeward of so many of the fleet that each ship may 
readily fetch her wake, and then steers a course eight points 
from the wind, under an easy sail. The line is formed by 
each ship in the same manner as in the first order, except 
that, before bearing away, the line is perpendicular to the 
direction of the wind, or each ship has the wind on her beam. 

Third Order. 

As, in the third order of sailing, the chief commander's 
ship is in the centre, to produce this position, the fleet being 
formed in a line on one of the lines of bearing, and the ships 
steering in each other's wake ten points from the wind, the 
leading or leewardmost ship first hauls her wind. The second 
ship does the same as soon as she gets into the wake of the 
former ; and this is done by each ship, till the chief com- 
mander's ships haul their wind, when they reach the wake 
of the leading ship. At the same time that the chief com- 
mander's ship hauls her wind, the sternmost half of the fleet 
does the same. The ships are now in the third order of sail- 
ing, from which the fleet can be formed in the line of battle 
on either tack. 

Fourth Order. 

To form the fourth order of sailing, the commanding chief 
officers range themselves on the two lines of bearing, at a 
proper distance from each other, steering the proposed course ; 
and the ships of the several columns take their respective 
places, parallel to each other, and forming lines in the direc- 
tion of the wind. 

Fifth Order. 

To form the fifth order, the three leading ships of the divi- 
sion take their posts abreast and to leeward of each other, 
keeping their wind under an easy sail ; then the ships of each 
squadron make sail, and take their respective stations at the 
proper distance astern of their leaders, while the commanders 
of each division, and the corresponding ships of each, keep 
mutually abreast of each other. 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 



89 



To foi'm the Line of Battle. 
1. In forming from the first order of sailing, if the ships 
are running large on the tack that answers to the line of bear- 
ing on which they sail, and if the line is to be formed on the 
same tack, all the ships haul their wind at once, or as quickly 
as possible after the next to windward ; but if they be on the 
other tack with respect to the line of bearing, they all haul 
their wind and tack or veer together. If the line of battle is 
to be formed on the other line of bearing, the ship most to 
leeward veers or tacks, and hauls Fig. lo. 

her wind, while the rest of the /? ^ f 



Jf 



fleet veer or tack at the same 
time, and steer with the wind ^^'q^;: 
four points free, and each ship 
hauls her wind as soon as she 
gets within the wake of the leader. 

Fig. 11. 



^^ ^ 







^W 



See Figs. 10 and 11. 



Suppose the fleet running before the wind, in the second 
order of sailing : to form the line from this position, all the 
ships haul up together on the proper tack, presenting their 
heads eight points from the wind at the line on which they 
are arranged ; the leading ship then hauls her wind, immedi- 
ately making sail or Fig. 12. 
shortening sail, so 
as to close or open ^. 
the order ; and the "* 
sanoe is done suc- 
cessively by all the rest. See Fig. 12. 

In a fleet running large in the third order, the line of battle 
is formed by the v/ing which is in the line of bearing corre- 
sponding to the tack on which the line is to be formed, and 



V 



! ! i I ! ! I 



12 



II 



90 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



the ship at the angle, hauling their wind together, while the 
ships of the other wing haul up together eight points from the 

Fig. 13. 









wind ; each ship moving in this direction till she reach the 
wake of the other wing, when she hauls close up. See 
Fig. 13. 

In forming the line of battle on the same tack from the 
fifth order of sailing (as the fourth is not calculated for form- 
ing a line of battle), the centre brings to so as only to keep 
steerage way ; the weather column bears away two points, 
and when it gets ahead of the centre, hauls its wind, while 
the ships of the lee column tack together, and crowd sail to 
gain the wake of the centre, when they re-tack together, and 
complete the line (see Fig. 14) ; or the weather column brings 
to, while the centre and lee tack together, and bear away 

Fig. 14. 




^. 






two points free. When the ships of the centre column have 
gained the wake of the van, they re-tack together, and bring 
to ; and when those of the lee have gained the rear line, they 
re-tack together, and all stand on ; or, lastly, the lee column 
brings to, the centre runs under easy sail two points free, to 
get ahead of the rear squadron, while the rear bears away 
under the press of sail two points free, to get ahead of the 
centre division. 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 91 



2. Suppose the weather and centre columns to interchange. 
To form the lee under these circumstances, the centre stands 
on, while the weather column bears away eight points, and 
having reached the wake of the centre, which now forms the 
van, hauls up ; the ships of the lee column tack together and 
run under a press of sail, within two points free, so as just 
to gain the rear of the line when they re-tack together (see 
Fig. 15) ; or the lee column brings to, while the centre squad- 
Fig. 15. 



^•^ / / / r$ 
^•^ / / / 

^ - ^^^.. 



ron bears away three points under easy sail, and, having 
reached the wake of the van, hauls up to form the centre 
division. 

3. Suppose the centre and lee columns to interchange. 
The lee column stands on close-hauled, under an easy sail ; 
the weather column bears away two points, under a press of 
sail, till it reaches the head of the line, when it hauls up ; 
and the centre bears away eight points, and, when in the 
wake of the lee, now the centre, hauls its wind. See Fig. 16. 

Fig. 16. 

""*^-.:i~ -^r::^ 



:^> 



4. If the weather and lee columns interchange, the lee 
column stands on under a press of sail close-hauled, while the 
centre, under easy sail, bears away two points, and when it 
reaches the wake of the now van squadron, hauls its wind ; 



92 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



and the weather column bears away eight points, hauling up 
when in the wake of the centre. See Fig. 17. 

Fig. 17. 

I fy 

■*-.^ ^ / / / 
W/' 





5. Suppose the centre column to form the van, and the 

weather the rear division. Here the lee column brings to^ 

pj jQ while the centre 

*... bears away two 

\ \~V* - points, forming the 

\ \ \ \ \ '^C^'^,^ line ahead of the 

\, \ \ \ \ \ ^^^'<^«5^ former, now the 

\ \ \^^^r:::zz::7-~:v:!^-.^, centre ; and the 

\ \ \ \ \ ^^^^ rr:;.3 r:::r/".:±:'?.-.v-..t.. weather column 

^\v\\\\ veers away seven 

■~-*^ '^ ' ' points on the other 



'AV 



tack, forming the 
rear squadron. See Fig. 18. 

6. To form the line so that the lee column may form the 
van, and the centre the rear, the lee column is to stand on 
under a press of sail, while the weather bears away three 
points under easy sail, and the centre bears away eight points, 
the ships of each column hauling their wind when in the 
wake of the now van division. See Fig. 19. 

Fig. 19. 



7. If the line of battle is to be formed on the other tack, so 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 93 

that the weather shall form the van division, as in the first 
case, the ships of the weather column first tack successively, 
while those of the centre and p- . go. 

lee stand on, the former un- ^p, 

der easy sail, and the latter y^'^ 

shortening sail, the leading --"" -'' ^S^ 

ships tacking when in the ,-'-'"'^- / "* 

wake of the now van, taking ^^^^^ ; ^- <:;>^ 

great care that the ships of ^^^"^---<:-^ / ^ 

the centre and lee draw not ^^^6^ 

too near to the sternmost ^^"^^ 

ships of the van, or to each 
other. See Fig. 20. 

8. To form the line on the other tack, when the centre and 
weather columns interchange, the weather column brings to, 
while the centre column 
stands on till the leading 
ship be fully able to clear 
the weather column, when 
the ships of the centre tack ^-^^ 
successively, as they reach 
the wake of the van : the 
lee column stands on, tack- "*--* 

ing successively as the ships get into the wake of the van, 
under moderate sail. See Fig. 21. 

9. In forming the Fig. 22. 

line on the other ^,.j0^^ 

tack, when the cen- i^"^^ 

tre and lee inter- ^y^"^--^ 

change, the centre ^ii^^ "^"^--^ 

brings to, while the (i^:f^i ^ ^"^^^ 

ships of the weather <-,.^ ^■^- 

tack, under short- --,. ^^"'^. 

ened sail, and the *•• ... 

lee under a press of *'^"*-. 

sail, stand on ; the * f 

leading ship having gained the wake of the line, tacks, and is 

followed in succession by her division. The centre column 




94 THE ARMY AND NAVY 



fills and stands on, when the first ship of that column and the 
last of the lee bear from each other in a direction perpendicu- 
lar to that of the wind. See Fig. 22. 

10. To form on this same tack, so that the weather and 
lee may interchange, the weather and centre bring to, while 
the lee crowds sail till it can pass ahead of the weather 
column, when the ships tack in succession. As soon as the 

Fig. 23. leading ship of 

^ ^-c\ *^^ centre, and 

..i^' '^■•^ th^ ^^st of the 

^^~ " — "^"^X:? ^^^^ other in a 

"~"*--^., ^■Q::.. line perpendicu- 

^"**'--,,^^ X:::^ lar to the wind, 

"'^^^^^ the centre fills 

'"--*.. and tacks in suc- 

■'•* cession when in 

the wake of the now van ; and the ships of the weather column 
do the same when their leading ship and the last of the cen- 
tre are under similar circumstances. See Fig. 23. 

11. Suppose the centre is to form the van, and the weather 

Fig, 24. the rear, in forming 

^ the line on the other 

^^'"^ tack. The weather 

i^^^^-x::^ brings to, while the 

^^,j^ ^^^^ other columns make 

1^ '**"--^. ^ sail till they can pass 

^^-.^j^^ "^"^-^ ahead of the former 

•■>^. on the other tack, 

■ — #^ when they tack suc- 

^*''^». cessively. The wea- 

*^* ther column, when 

the others have passed it, fills and tacks, to form the rear. 

See Fig. 24. 

12. Suppose now the lee column is to form the van. The 
weather and centre bring to, while the lee crowds sail, and 
tacks when it can pass ahead of the weather column. When 
the last ship of the now van has passed to windward of the 



WARLIKE OFERATIONS AT SEA. 95 

former weather column, the van shortens sail, to give time 
for the other columns to form ; and the weather and centre 

Fig. 2*5. 










fill at the same time, to gain the wake of the van, when they 
tack in succession. See Fig. 25. 

To form the Orders of Sailing from the Line of Battle. 

We must now show how a fleet may be disposed in the 
principal orders of sailing from the line of battle ; and here, 
as before, we have several varieties. 

1. To form the first order of sailing from the line of battle 
on the same tack, all the ships are to bear away together as 
many points as the chief commander may direct, keeping in 
the line of bearing for the proper tack. The sternmost first 
bears away, and the others follow in quick succession, to 
avoid running foul of each other. 

2. If they are to form on the other tack, the leading ship 
bears away four points to leeward, and the rest follow in suc- 
cession. The sternmost ship having bore away, the whole 
haul up, and will be in bearing for the line on the other tack. 
See Fig. 26. 



Fiff. 26. 







3. To form the second order of sailing from the line of 
battle, the whole fleet is to bear away together ten points, so 



96 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



7^ 



T^. 



T^ 



^. 



that when the headmost ship, which first presses sail, shall 
come abreast of the second ship, the second ship must adapt 
Yig, 27. her sail to keep in this bear- 

ing, and so in succession, each 
taking care to keep the pre- 
ceding ship in a line with 
herself, perpendicular to the 
direction of the wind. The 
whole fleet will now be be- 
fore the wind. See Fig. 27. 
4. To form the third order, the whole fleet is to bear away 
together ten points, the headmost half, including the centre 

ship, carrying a degree of sail 
to preserve their line of bear- 
ing, while each of the remain- 



7^. 



7^. 



rTFT"i""rr"rii) 



3^ 






Fig. 28. 

4.44- 



^ 



f:.. 



^^ 



i: 



■f-.. 



^ 



ing ships is successively to 
shorten sail, so as to form the 
other line of bearing with re- 
spect to that on which they 
were before arranged. See 
Fig. 28. 

5. To change from the line of battle to the fifth order on 
the same tack. Of this evolution there are several varieties, 
but we shall mention only two ; first, when the van is to form 
the weather, and the rear the lee column, and the fleet to 
keep as much as possible to windward. In this case, the van 
and centre tack together, and run close-hauled in bow and 
quarter line, while the rear proceeds in its former course 
under easy sail. When each ship of the centre is abreast of 
the corresponding ship of the rear, the centre re-tacks, while 
the van stands on till the centre and rear come up, when it 
also re-tacks, and all the columns regulate their distances. 
Secondly, when the van is to form the lee, and the rear the 
weather column, the van bears away under easy sail, and 
goes at right-angles with the line head, while the centre runs 
two points free, each ship steering for that ship of the van 
which is to be abreast of her when in column. The distance 
must be determined by the leader of the van, who is not to 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 97 



t 



haul up with her division till she and the sternmost ship of 
the centre column are in a line at right-angles with the wind, 
when both stand on under easy sail, while the rear crowds 
sail to pass to windward of both. 

6. To form the fifth order of sailing from the line of battle 
on the other tack. Of this there are also several varieties, 
but we shall confine ourselves to two. First, when the van 
is to form the weather, and the rear the lee column, the van 
tacks in succession, while the leading ship of the centre is to 
tack, when the leader of the van passes him exactly to wind- 
ward, in which she is followed by her division ; and the rear 
manoeuvres in the same manner with respect to the centre. 
Secondly, when the rear is to form the weather, and the van 
the lee column, the van tacks in succession, and, when about, 
either shortens sail or brings to, to allow the other columns 
time to form. The centre and rear then crowd sail and tack 
in succession ; the former tacking when its leader has the 
centre of the lee column in a line at right-angles with the 
wind, or when its centre passes astern of the lee column. 
When the centre has tacked, it regulates its rate of sailing 
by the lee, and both wait for the rear to pass to windward. 
The rear tacks when the leader has the first ship of the lee 
in a line at right-angles with the wind, or when its centre 
ship passes astern of the centre column. 

To Manoeuvre in Line of Battle. 

There are various evolutions or manoeuvres performed by 
a fleet when in line of battle, some of which we must here 
describe. 

Sometimes the fleet has to form the line on the other tack, 
by tacking in succession. To do this, the leading ship of the 
fleet tacks first, after making more sail, or after the second 
has shortened sail, to increase the interval between them. 
When the first ship is about, either the second makes more 
sail, or the third shortens sail, and, as soon as the second gets 
into the wake of the leader, she tacks, putting down the helm 
just as she opens the weather-quarter of the first ship, al- 
ready on the other tack. In the same manner, each of the 



13 



98 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

Other ships tacks when in the wake of the leader ; and the 
ships already about must presei-ve their proper distances by 
shortening sail, if necessary, till the whole fleet be on the 
other tack. If a ship should miss stays, she must immedi- 
ately fill again on the same tack, and make sail with all pos- 
sible expedition, taking care not to fall to leeward ; thus she 
will get ahead and to windward of the following ships, which 
will successively perform their evolutions in the wake of the 
ships that are already on the other tack, standing on rather 
farther than if the ship ahead had not missed stays. 

But suppose the ships are not to tack in succession. To 
form the line on the other tack, the whole fleet veers together ; 
the rear ship hauls her wind on the other tack, and stands on, 
while the rest go two points free on the other tack, and haul 
up as they successively gain the wake of the leading ship. 

If the line is to veer in succession, the van ship veers and 
stands four points free on the other tack, hauling her wind 
when clear of the sternmost ship, and the rest follow and 
haul up in succession. 

Sometimes the fleet has to turn to windward while in line 
of battle. The best way to do this, when there is good sea- 
room, is for all the ships to tack together, when the fleet will 
be in a line of battle on the one board, and in bow and quar- 
ter line on the other. If, however, the fleet be turning to 
windward in a narrow channel, it is best for the ships to tack 
in succession, as, were they all to tack together, the van 
would be soon in with the land on one side, while the stern 
ship, soon after the fleet has re-tacked, would be too near the 
land on the other side. 

If the van and centre are to interchange, the van is to bear 
away a little and then bring to, while the centre passes on to 
windward, edging a little to get ahead of the former van on 
the same line ; the rear, coming on under an easy sail, edges 
away likewise, to gain the wake of the now centre squadron. 

If the van and rear are to interchange, the van and centre 
are to bear away a little and then bring to, so that the van 
may bear away a little more to the leeward than the centre. 
The rear stands on to gain the head of the line ; and, when 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 99 

abreast of the former van, the centre fills, and both standing 
on, form ahead of the now rear, by edging down till they are 
in a line with it. 

If the centre and rear are to interchange, the van stands 
on under an easy sail, while the centre bears away a little 
and brings to, and the rear at the same time carries a press 
of sail to pass the centre to windward and get into the wake 
of the van. The van and centre then edge away to gain the 
line with the now rear squadron, which then fills. 

To Manoeuvre in the Fifth Order of Sailing. 

Several evolutions are required while a fleet is in the fifth 
order of sailing, and of these we shall notice some of the 
more important. 

When the columns are to tack in succession, the ships of 
the lee must tack first, as they have the greatest distance to 
run ; and when the leader of the centre comes abreast of the 
leader to leeward, or at right-angles with the close-hauled 
line on the other tack on which the leader of the lee is now 
moving, she tacks, and is followed successively by the ships 
of her division. The weather column manoeuvres in the 
same manner, paying the same regard to the centre. Here 
the weather column is still to windward, and should the 
columns have closed too much or be too far asunder, the order 
may be observed, either by the lee or windward column bear- 
ing away, so as to make an angle equal to that proposed be- 
tween any column and a line joining a leader of that column 
and the sternmost ship of the next. 

When all the columns are to tack together, the sternmost 
ships put in stays together ; and when in stays their seconds 
ahead put down their helms, and so on through the whole 
fleet. Each column will then be in bow and quarter line. 

When the columns are to veer in succession, the leader of 
the lee column must steer four points free on the other tack, 
followed by the ships of that division ; and when she is clear 
of the sternmost ships of that division, she hauls up. The 
same evolution is performed by the centre and weather ships 
successively, standing on till they bring the point at which 



100 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

the lee column began to veer, to bear in a right line to lee- 
ward of them. They likew^ise successively spring their luffs 
when the point at which the lee column hauled its wind bears 
right to leeward. 

Suppose the fleet, when in the fifth order of sailing, is to 
turn to windward. Let the ships be so arranged that the 
leaders and corresponding ships may be in the direction of 
the wind. The van ships must tack together, and must be 
followed in succession, each by the remaining ships of the 
division, when they reach the wake of their leaders, or the 
same point where they tacked ; so that there will always be 
three ships in stays at once, till the whole fleet is on the other 
tack. The fleet then stands on to any proposed distance and 
re-tacks as before. 

When the weather and centre columns interchange, the 
weather and lee lie to, or only keep steerage way : the centre 
column tacks together, and, forming a bow and quarter line, 
goes close-hauled to gain the wake of the weather column ; it 
then tacks together and stands on, while the weather column 
bears away to its new station in the centre, and the lee 
column fills. 

When the weather and lee columns are to interchange, the 
centre column must bring to, while the lee stands on under a 
press of sail ; and when its sternmost ship can pass to wind- 
ward of the van of the centre column, that is, when the cen- 
tre ship of the lee is in a perpendicular line to the direction 
of the wind with the van of the centre column, the lee column 
then tacks together, and stands on close-hauled till it comes 
in a line with the centre column, when it goes large two 
points to get into the situation which the weather column 
left, and then veers together, hauling the wind for the other 
tack. At the beginning of the evolution the weather column 
bears away together under little sail, and goes large six points 
on the other tack, to get into the wake of the centre column ; 
it then hauls to the former tack, going two points large, till 
it comes abreast of the centre column, when it brings to and 
waits for the now weather column. 

Suppose the weather column is to pass to leeward. The 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 101 

weather column is to stand on under easy sail, while the cen- 
tre and lee tack together, carrying a press of sail till they 
reach the wake of the weather column, when they re-tack, 
and crowd sail till they come up with it. The weather 
column, when the others have gained its w^ake, bears away 
two points, to gain its station to leeward, when it brings to 
till the other columns, now the weather and centre, come up. 

Suppose the lee column is to pass to windward. The 
weather and centre columns bring to, while the lee column 
carries sail and tacks in succession as soon as the leading ship 
can weather the headmost ship of the weather column ; and 
when arrived on the line on which the weather column is 
formed, it re-tacks in succession, forms on the same line, and 
either brings to or stands on under easy sail. If it brings to, 
the other two columns bear away together two points, to put 
themselves abreast of the column now to windward ; but if 
the now weather column stood on under an easy sail, they 
may bear away only one point to gain their proper stations. 

It is of the greatest importance that each ship of a fleet or 
squadron preserve her proper station and distance with respect 
to the rest : these may be regulated in two ways, either by 
observation with the quadrant, or by what is called the naval 
square. This square is usually constructed in the following 
manner. 

Construction and Use of the JVaval Square. 

On some convenient place in the middle of the quarter- 
deck is described the square A B C D, Fig. 29, having the 
sides A D and B C parallel to the keel of the 
ship. Through the centre, G, the line E F is 
drawn parallel to A D or B C, and the diago- 
nals A C and B D are drawn. The angles E 
G D, E G C are bisected by the straight lines 
G H, G I, and thus the naval square is com- 
pleted. Now the angles F G D, F G C are = 
four points each, being each half a right-angle, therefore the 
angles E G D, EGG, the complements of these angles, are 
each = twelve points, and consequently the angles E G H, 
E G I are each = six points, being each half of the last angles. 




102 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 




Now, if a ship be running close-hauled on the starboard tack, 
in the direction F E, the direction of the wind will be I G, 
and her close-hauled course on the other tack will be G C ; 
but if she be running close-hauled on the larboard tack in the 
same direction, her direction when close-hauled on the star- 
board tack will be G D. Now, to apply the naval square to 
the keeping of ships in their respective stations, suppose the 
Fig. 30. fleet formed on the fifth order of sail- 

ing, close-hauled, the corresponding 
ships of the columns coinciding with 
the direction of the wind, in order to 
^i^ Al^ ^ ^^^ *^ windward with greater facility. 
: rj,^^ corresponding ships in the column 
must be kept in the direction of GH 
or G I, according to the direction of the 
wind and the tack they are on, while 
all the ships of the same column must 
be in the direction of E F. See Fig. 30. 
Again, suppose the ships arranged in three columns on one 
of the lines of bearing, and close-hauled on the other tack. 
The ships of each column will be in the direction of one of 
the diagonals, while the corresponding ships of the other 
columns will be in the direction of the other diagonal. 

To restore the Order of Battle on Shifts of the Wind. 

Sometimes the line of battle is disordered on the wind's 
shifting, and requires to be restored. Of this there are seve- 
ral cases, a few of which we shall notice. 

1. When the wind comes forward less than six points. In 
this case the whole fleet, except the leader, brings to. The 
leading ship, that the same distances between the ships may 
be preserved on restoring the line, steers a course, as a h, Fig. 
31, so as to be at right-angles with the middle point between 
the former and present direction of the wind. This required 
course may be known by adding half the number of points 
the wind has shifted to eight points, and applying this sum 
to the former close-hauled course. When the leader has ar- 
rived at the new close-hauled line with respect to the second 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 103 

ship ahead, this ship immediately fills and bears away as 
many points as the leader ; and when both these have reached 
the close-hauled line with respect to the third ship, she also 

Fig. 31. 



/ 



f i t r -/-—err--. 

i- i i---f ■!■■■ — t-^i::?^--^ 

/- -/- f f t t ■r-<^---. 

fills and bears away ; and thus with the rest in succession ; 
and when they have got into the close-hauled line, b c, with 
the sternmost ship, they all haul their wind together, and the 
sternmost ship fills and stands on close-hauled. 

This may be expeditiously performed if the whole fleet fall 
off" as soon as the wind shifts the same number of points, and 
the leader bears away eight points from the middle between 
the former and present directions of the wind; or when the 
wind shifts nearly six points, if the leader bears away eight 
points from the present direction of the wind, and hauls her 
wind as soon as the sternmost ship bears from her in the 
close-hauled line, while the second ship bears away when she 
reaches the wake of the leader, and hauls her wind when she 
has again gained his w^ake. The third, fourth, &c., ships 
bear away, and also haul their wind in succession, till the 
sternmost and the whole line be formed again. 

2. Suppose the wind comes forward less than six points, 
and the order of battle is to be re-formed on the other tack. 
In this case all the ships are to veer round till their heads 
come to the requisite point with respect to their former course, 
when the rear ship, now become the van, hauls close by the 
wind, followed successively by the other ships. Should the 
wind come ahead more than six points, but less than twelve*, 
the fleet is to manoeuvre as before ; but if it shift exactly 
twelve points ahead, the tack must be changed. 

3. Lastly, suppose the wind to shift aft ; if less than two 
1 points, the leader hauls her wind, while the fleet stands on as 



104 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



before, each successively hauling her wind as she gains the 
wake of her leader. If the tack is to be changed, the whole 
fleet tack together, and the sternmost ship, now the leader, 
hauls up, while the rest bear down and haul up in succession. 

Should the wind change sixteen points, all the ships imme- 
diately brace about for the other tack, by which means the 
fleet will be going four points large ; then the ships instantly 
tacking or veering together, the order of the battle will be 
restored or formed again on the same tack as before the wind 
changed. 

Having described and illustrated the principal evolutions 
which are performed by fleets or squadrons under ordinary 
circumstances, we are prepared to consider the nature and 
consequences of a naval engagement. 

Circumstances to he considered in forming a Fleet for Action. 

In forming a fleet for battle, it is proper to consider the 
size and number of the ships of which it is to consist, and 
the distance at which they are to be placed with respect to 
each other. In the present system of naval warfare, it is 
generally deemed of advantage to have the ships that are to 
form the principal line as large as possible ; for, though large 
ships are not so easily and expeditiously worked as those of 
a smaller size, they are most serviceable during the action, 
both as carrying a greater weight of metal, and as being less 
exposed to material injury, either from the enemy's shot or 
from the weather. In boarding, too, a large ship must have 
greatly the superiority over a smaller, both from her greater 
height, and from the number of hands which she contains. 
With respect to the number of ships, it is of advantage that 
they be not too numerous, as, if the line be too extensive, the 
signals from the centre are with difficulty observed. 

In arranging a fleet in line of battle, it is proper to regu- 
late the distance so that the ships shall be sufficiently near to 
support each other, but not so close that a disabled ship may 
I not readily be got out of the line without disturbing the rest 
of the fleet. 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 105 



Advantages and Disadvantages of the Weather-Gage. 

It has long been deemed a point of great consequence with 
the commander of a fleet to gain the weather-gage, or to get 
to windward of the enemy, before coming to action. In de- 
ciding on the propriety of this, much will depend on the rela- 
tive strength of each fleet, and on the state of the weather at 
the time. We shall state the advantages and disadvantages 
of the weather-gage, as they are commonly laid down by 
writers on naval tactics, though we may observe, by the way, 
that if a fleet be much superior to its opponent, it is seldom 
of consequence whether it engages to windward or to leeward. 

A fleet to windward of the enemy is thought to possess the 
following advantages. It may approach the leeward fleet at 
pleasure, and can, of course, accelerate or delay the begin- 
ning of the engagement. If more numerous, it may send 
down a detachment on the rear of the enemy, and thus throw 
him into confusion. It may also readily send down fire-ships 
on the enemy's fleet, when thrown into confusion or disabled. 
It may board at any time, and is scarcely incommoded by the 
smoke of the enemy. The reverse of these circumstances, of 
course, acts against a leeward fleet. 

The disadvantages of being to windward of the enemy 
respect chiefly the circumstances attending a retreat, should 
this be necessary. The windward fleet can seldom retire 
without passing through the enemy's line ; and if, in attempt- 
ing a retreat, the windward ships tack together, those of the 
leeward fleet may do the same, rake the weather ships in 
stays, and follow them on the other tack, having now the ad- 
vantage of the wind. In stormy weather, the windward 
ships can seldom open their lower deck ports, and the lee 
guns are not easily managed after firing. Again, any disa- 
bled ships cannot easily quit the line without disordering the 
rest of the fleet, and exposing either that or themselves to be 
raked by the enemy to leeward. A leeward fleet has the 
advantage of serving their lower-deck guns in all weathers ; 
of being able to retreat at pleasure ; of drawing oflf, without 
difficulty, their disabled ships ; of forming with more readi- 
ness the order of retreat, or of continuing the action as long 

14 



106 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



as convenient ; of having it in their power, when superior in 
number, to double the enemy ; and of cannonading with great 
effect the windward ships as they bear down for the attack. 

Description of an Engagement between two Ships. 

As an engagement between two adverse ships is, in some 
measure, an epitome of an engagement between two fleets ; 
we shall first briefly describe the former, as it takes place un- 
der ordinary circumstances, and shall then notice the usual 
manner of conducting a general engagement. 

A naval engagement may be divided into three stages, the 
preparation, the action, and the repair. 

Preparation. 

When an enemy's ship heaves in sight, and it is thought 
advisable to bring her to an engagement, orders are first 
given to clear for action, which is begun by the boatswain 
and his mates piping up the hammocks, in order to clear the 
space between decks, for the more easy management of the 
guns, as well as to afford the men on the quarter-deck, &c., a 
better protection against the enemy's shot, the hammocks 
being stowed in the nettings above the gunwale and bul- 
warks. After this the boatswain's mates go to work to secure 
the yards, which is done by fastening them with strong chains 
or ropes, in addition to those by which they are suspended. 
They likewise get ready such materials as may be necessary 
for repairing the rigging, if it should be cut away, or other- 
wise damaged, by the enemy's shot. Tn the meantime the 
carpenter and his mates prepare shot-plugs and mauls, to 
stop any dangerous shot-holes that may be made in the hull 
near the surface of the water, and provide the necessary 
iron-work for refitting the chain-pumps, if their machinery 
should be injured during the engagement ; while the gunner 
and his mates, and the quarter-gunners, examine the guns to 
see that their charges are dry, and provide everything that 
may be required for supplying the great guns and small arms 
with ammunition. The master and master's mates see that 
the sails are properly trimmed, according to the situation of 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 107 

the ship, and increase or reduce them as may be found neces- 
sary ; and the lieutenants visit the different decks to see that 
all is clear, and to take care that the inferior officers do their 
duty. 

When the hostile ships have approached within a proper 
distance of each other, the drums beat to arms ; the boat- 
swain and his mates pipe all hands to quarters. All the men 
who are to manage the great guns repair immediately to 
their respective stations. The crows, handspikes, rammers, 
sponges, powder-horns, matches, and train-tackles, are placed 
in order by the side of the guns ; the hatches are immedi- 
ately closed, to prevent skulkers from getting below ; the 
marines are drawn up on the quarter-deck, &c., the lashings 
of the guns are cast loose, and the tompions withdrawn. 
The whole artillery, above and below, is run out at the ports, 
and levelled to the point-blank range, ready for firing. 

The Action. 
When these necessary preparations are completed, and 
the officers and crew ready at their respective stations, and 
when the two ships are sufficiently near each other, in a 
proper relative situation for the shot to take full eflcct, the 
action commences with a vigorous cannonade from the great 
guns, accompanied by the whole efforts of the swivels and 
small-arms. The firing is seldom performed in volleys, as 
that would shake the ship too much ; but the guns are loaded 
and fired one after another, with as much despatch and as 
little confusion as possible, care being taken to fire only when 
each gun is properly directed to its object. During the firing, 
the lieutenants traverse the decks, to see that the battle is 
prosecuted with vivacity, and that the men do their duty ; 
while the midshipmen second their injunctions, and give the 
necessary assistance where required, at the guns committed 
to their charge. The youngest of these inferior officers are 
generally employed to carry orders from the captain. The 
gunners are all this time employed in the magazines, filling 
cartridges, which are carried along the decks in boxes, by 
the boys of the ship. When the action has continued so 



108 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



long, or has produced such an effect, that one of the ships 
must yield or retreat, if the vanquished ship cannot get off, 
she acknowledges her inferiority by striking or hauling down 
her colours, when she is, as soon as possible, taken possession 
of by the victor, the commander of which sends a part of 
his own crew into the captured ship, and brings away most 
of her officers and men on board his own ship, as prisoners 
of war. 

Repair. 
The engagement being concluded, they begin to repair. 
The guns are secured by their breeches and tackles with all 
convenient expedition. Whatever sails have been rendered 
unserviceable, are unbent, and the wounded masts and yards 
struck upon deck, to be fished or replaced by others. The 
standing rigging is knotted, and the running rigging spliced 
where necessary. Proper sails are bent in the room of those 
which have been displaced as useless. The carpenter and 
his mates are employed in repairing the breaches made in the 
ship's hull, by shot-plugs, pieces of plank, and sheet-lead. 
The gunner and his assistants are busied in replenishing the 
allotted number of charged cartridges, to supply the place of 
those which have been expended, and in refitting whatever 
furniture of the guns may have been damaged by the action. 

Engagement between two Fleets. 

A general engagement between two adverse fleets obvi- 
ously involves a greater variety of circumstances, and re- 
quires greater judgment and more comprehensive skill in the 
commanding officer. 

When the commander of a fleet has discovered an enemy's 
fleet, his principal object, if he be sufficiently strong, is to 
bring it to action as soon as possible. Every inferior consi- 
deration gives way to this important object, and all necessary 
preparations are immediately made to prepare for such an 
event. The state of the wind and situation of the enemy 
will, in general, regulate his conduct with regard to the dis- 
position of his ships on that occasion. To facilitate the exe- 
cution of the commander's orders, the whole fleet is disposed 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 109 



in three squadrons, and each of these classed into three divi- 
sions, under the command of the different officers. Before 
the action begins, the adverse fleets are drawn up in two 
lines, as formerly described. As soon as the chief com- 
mander displays the signal for the line of battle, the several 
divisions separate from the columns in which they were dis- 
posed in the usual order in sailing, and every ship crowds 
sail to get into its station in the wake of the next ahead ; and 
a proper distance from each other is regularly observed from 
the van to the rear. The chief commander, however, occa- 
sionally contracts or extends his line, so as to regulate the 
length of his line by that of his adversary. This is more 
particularly necessary to prevent his being doubled, by 
which his van and rear would be thrown into disorder. 
When the hostile fleets approach each other, the courses are 
commonly hauled upon the brails, and the top-gallant sails 
and stay-sails furled. The movement of each ship is regu- 
lated chiefly by the main and fore-top sails and the jib ; the 
mizen-top sail being reserved to hasten or retard the course 
of the ship, and, by filling or backing, hoisting or lowering 
it, to determine her velocity. The signal for a general en- 
gagement is usually displayed when the fleets are sufficiently 
near each other to be within the range of point-blank shot, 
so that the guns may be levelled with some certainty of exe- 
cution. After the battle has commenced, it is carried on 
much in the same manner as between two ships, except that 
each vessel of the fleet, besides attending to her own move- 
ments, has to observe the signals made by the commanding 
officer, and repeated by the frigates on the van and rear. 
The main object of the chief commander is to keep his line 
as complete as possible, by ordering ships from those in 
reserve to supply the place of such as may have been dis- 
abled, and to annoy the enemy as much as possible, both by 
strengthening the feeble parts of his own line, and, if cir- 
cumstances admit of it, by sending down fire-ships upon that 
of the enemy. When the engagement draws near a close, 
either by the defeat of the enemy, or by the disabled state 
of either fleet, signals are made from the chief commander 



110 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



to take possession of such of the enemy's ships as have struck, 
to tow his ovirn disabled ships into a place of security, and 
either to chase the remainder of the enemy's squadron, or, if 
that be impracticable, to draw off his own ships to be refitted. 
Such are the general incidents attending an engagement at 
sea, modified, of course, by numerous circumstances, of which 
a general description can convey no idea. There are, how- 
ever, various movements and evolutions connected with a 
naval engagement, which it will be necessary for us to notice. 

To dispute the Weather-Gage with an Enemy. 

Where the weather-gage is deemed of sufficient importance, 
it is often an object with two fleets to dispute it with each 
other. When the enemy is to windward, and it is wished to 
gain the weather-gage of him, the fleet to leeward should 
avoid extending itself the length of the enemy's line, in order 
to oblige them to edge down upon theirs, if they intend to 
attack them ; which will be the means, if they still persist in 
doing 80, of losing the advantage of the wind. It is impos- 
sible for a fleet to leeward to gain to windward, so long as 
the enemy keep the wind, unless a change happens in their 
favour ; and, therefore, all that a fleet to leeward can do 
must be to wait with patience for such a change, of which 
they will undoubtedly avail themselves, as well as of any in- 
advertency the enemy may commit in the meantime. And, 
as long as the fleet to leeward does not extend its line the 
length of the enemy's, it will be impossible for the latter to 
bring them to action without running the hazard, by bearing 
down, of losing the advantage of the wind, which both fleets 
will be 80 desirous of preserving. That a commander may 
take advantage of such shifts of the wind as occasionally 
happen, he must endeavour to get his ships into situations 
where these shifts most frequently take place. It is well 
known to experienced naval officers, that particular winds 
reign most on certain coasts, or oflf certain headlands. Here, 
therefore, the commander should await the approach of the 
enemy ; and though by this plan he may sometimes be un- 
successful, he will more frequently gain a material advantage. 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. Ill 

The disposition of projecting headlands, and the setting of 
tides and currents, often contribute materially towards gain- 
ing the wind of the enemy. The fleet to windward should 
keep that to leeward as much as possible abreast of it; and 
thus, unless the wind changes considerably, they will pre- 
serve the advantage which they have gained. They should 
also force them to keep their wind, unless they think it pru- 
dent not to engage, in which case it would be better to keep 
altogether out of sight. 

To force the Enemy to Action. 

When the enemy appears desirous of avoiding an action, 
there are various methods of attempting to force him to en- 
gage ; as, first, when he has the weather-gage. In this case 
the lee fleet, which is desirous of bringing on an engagement, 
must keep always on the same tack with the enemy to wind- 
ward, taking care to keep their own ships so exactly abreast 
of the enemy as to prevent losing sight of them ; and hence 
be ready to take advantage of the first favourable shift of 
wind to make the attack. An alteration of the course may 
be best attempted in the night. The lee fleet must have fri- 
gates on the look-out, and these must continually give notice 
by signal of the manoeuvres and course of the retreating fleet 
to windward. Thus the weather fleet is always exposed to 
pursuit, without being able to escape unseen ; and hence 
must sooner or later be compelled to engage, unless they can 
get into some friendly port, or should be favoured by a gale 
of wind suflScient to disperse both fleets, and thus prevent 
the possibility of a general engagement. 

Secondly, when the enemy is to leeward. If the lee fleet 
keep close to the wind in the order of battle, the fleet to 
windward is to stand on in the same manner till it be abreast 
of the enemy, ship to ship, and at the same time to bear 
away, and steer so as to bring their respective opponents on 
the same point of the compass with themselves. Thus the 
adverse fleets will be sufficiently near each other to begin the 
action, by each ship's presenting her bow to the ship abreast 
of her in the order of sailing, which may be easily changed 



112 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



1 



for the order of battle, by all the ships hauling together close 
to the wind in the moment which precedes the action. If the 
fleet appear inclined to engage, it may bring to, to prevent 
losing time, and after this they will fill as soon as the action 
commences, because it is of advantage to a lee line to be ad- 
vancing ahead. As the lee fleet fills and stands in close by 
the wind, the weather line should keep abreast before it bears 
away, to come within the requisite distance, that the van 
ship of the weather fleet may always keep to windward of 
the leading ship of the lee line, and be guarded against any 
shift of wind ahead. If the lee fleet bear away four points 
to move their order of battle on the other tack, and avoid the 
action, filing off" in succession in the wake of the van ship, 
the weather line, by bearing away all together eight points, 
cannot fail, as both fleets are supposed to sail equally, to pass 
through the middle of their line, and force them to fight with 
disadvantage, if their extent be double the distance between 
the two fleets. If the extent of the fleet be less than the 
above limitation, then the weather fleet will divide the lee 
fleet more unequally ; and if the distance between the fleets 
be considerable, the weather fleet will be able to break through 
the line. If the lee fleet bear away four points all together, 
being of equal extent with the fleet to windward, and their 
distance from each other equal to that of the length of one 
of the lines, should the weather fleet bear away at the same 
time eight points, they will approach very near the stern- 
most of the retreating fleet, but they will not have it in their 
power to cut off any part of that fleet, even with an equality 
of sailing ; so that the only advantage gained by this ma- 
noeuvre will be an ability of attacking the rear and bringing 
it to action. If the van ship and the rest of the weather 
fleet had a suflacient velocity to keep the centre ship of the 
lee line on the same point of bearing, in that case the leading 
ship may break through the enemy's line about the middle 
sihip of the centre division ; for, supposing the fleets in the 
order of battle, on the starboard tack, steering east, with the 
wind at south-south-east, being at two leagues distance from 
each other, both the lines being four leagues in extent, then 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 113 



the lee line bearing away all together four points, will run 
northeast, while the fleet to windward, bearing away all 
together eight points, will steer north, the van ship of which 
will keep the centre division of the lee line in the point of 
bearing north-west. As she is supposed to be able to con- 
tinue in this position, it follows that the van of the weather 
line must close the centre of the flying line to leeward after 
having run four leagues. The time and distance necessary 
to cut off a retreating fleet may always be known according 
to the last supposition. If the lee fleet should get on the 
other tack, and run large, still in the order of battle, they 
will be sooner forced to action by the weather fleet, who have 
only to bear away eight or nine points on the same tack, or 
run right before the wind. 

To avoid coming to Action. 

As, in forcing a fleet to action, there are two principal cases 
in which a fleet may avoid an action, where circumstances 
are not sufficiently favourable ; first, when the enemy is to 
windward; and, secondly, when he is to leeward. In the 
former case, the lee fleet should form the order of retreat, if 
the enemy are in view, and run on the same tack as their 
leading ship ; but if he is still out of sight, and they have 
received intelligence of his approach by their frigates on the 
look-out, they may bear away large, without confining them- 
selves to keep the wind directly off", unless when in the order 
of retreat. In the second case, it seldom happens that the 
weather fleet can be forced to an engagement, because it can 
always stand on that tack which increases its distance from 
the enemy ; that is, by standing on one tack while the enemy 
is on the other. The windward fleet must not keep too near 
the enemy, and must take all possible means to avoid being 
abreast of him. 

To Double an Enemy. 

It is often of advantage to double the enemy ; that is, to 
bring a part of the fleet round upon his van or rear, so as to 
place him between two fires. This manoeuvre also resolves 
itself into two princij)al cases ; first, when the enemy is to 

15 K ' 



114 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



windward ; secondly, when he is to leeward. In the first 
case, the lee fleet that attempts to double the enemy should 
extend itself abreast of him, so that its van or rear may ex- 
tend beyond his line, in order to overreach him, by tacking 
in succession, so that the extended part of the line may get 
up to windward. If this manoeuvre be properly executed, 
it will be impossible for the ships of the weather line long to 
maintain their stations, for no vessel closely attacked by two 
others of equal force can long resist. It is of some conse- 
quence to determine whether the attempt to double should be 
made on the van or the rear of the enemy, as on the pro- 
priety of adopting the one or the other of these measures 
may in a great measure depend the issue of the battle. In 
the present case, it is most easy to double the van of the 
enemy, because, if they are engaged by the ships abreast of 
them, those which are advanced ahead will be able, by making 
all sail, to get in the perpendicular to the direction of the 
wind with the van of the enemy, and to tack in succession 
to gain the wind of them on the other board, thus keeping 
them to leeward ; and when they are come sufficiently to 
windward, they are again to go about, in order to keep the 
two headmost ships of the enemy's line continually under 
their fire. If there be two or three ships to tack in succes- 
sion and gain the wind of the enemy, they may edge down 
on the van of the weather line at pleasure, keeping themselves 
a little to the windward of it ; and as that van is already 
engaged by the other ships abreast on the other side, she 
must necessarily soon be disabled. If they bear away they 
must drop upon the line with which they are engaged to lee- 
ward, while the ships to windward still continue to cannon- 
ade them. If they attempt going about, in order to attack 
more closely the ships to windward, they will be raked, 
while in stays, by their opponents to leeward and to wind- 
ward, who, enfilading them with whole broadsides, which 
they cannot return, must complete their disorder. If they 
make sail, in order to frustrate the design of the ships in- 
clined to double, those with which they are engaged abreast 
to leeward have only to perform the same manoeuvre, and 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 115 



keep them under their fire; while the others, after having 
harassed them as much as possible, will do their best to per- 
form the same manoeuvre on the succeeding ships. 

If any of the ships in the van of the weather line are dis- 
abled in the masts or yards, they will drop astern, and run 
foul of the next succeeding ship, and these again on the next 
astern. Thus the enemy's order of battle will be broken, 
while, on the other hand, the lee line is preserved ; and those 
ships which have gained the wind of the enemy will, without 
engaging more ships than they can manage, contribute to 
increase the confusion. 

When the enemy is to leeward, and the weather fleet 
attempts to double, the ships of the weather line must extend 
their van beyond that of the enemy, and then veer in order 
to bring the headmost ships of the lee line between two fires. 
It must not, however, be concealed that it is much more dan- 
gerous to the ship engaged in this service to attempt dou- 
bling a fleet to leeward than to windward, as, if disabled or 
separated too far from their own fleet, they cannot so easily 
extricate themselves and rejoin the fleet. 

To avoid being Doubled. 
When one fleet attempts to double another, this latter will, 
of course, do all in their power to avoid the impending dan- 
ger ; and this they will the more readily do, according to 
their number or their situation. If the fleet thus threatened 
be to windward, one of the methods proposed to avoid being 
doubled, is to extend the line towards the point threatened, 
so as to leave a greater space between the ships ; but in doing 
this there is a risk of having the line broken by the superior 
enemy. Another method suggested is, for the flag-ships of 
the windward fleet to oppose themselves to those of the lee 
line, which is supposed to render several of the enemy's ships 
in the intervals of little use ; but one great inconvenience of 
this manoeuvre is, that it leaves the van and rear most ex- 
posed to the enemy's fire, and that the rear division, in par- 
ticular, is in great danger of being doubled. To remedy 
these defects, the largest ships should be placed in the van 



116 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



and rear of each division, and the fleet must regulate its sail- 
ing in such a manner that its rear shall never be astern of the 
rear of the enemy. 

When the enemy is to leeward, the weather fleet is to keep 
astern of the enemy, so that the van of the weather fleet 
may be opposed to and attack the enemy's centre. Hence 
the enemy's van will become useless for some time ; and 
should it attempt to tack and double on the weather fleet, 
much time will be lost in performing that evolution ; and it 
also runs the risk of being separated by the calm which often 
happens in the course of an engagement, occasioned by the 
discharge of the guns. A considerable interval might also be 
left between the centre and the van, if necessary precautions 
be taken to prevent the van from being cut off". 

Of Chasing. 

There are several circumstances of importance to be con- 
sidered in the subject of chasing, i.e., when one ship or fleet 
pursues another, called the chase, either to bring her or them 
to action, or to oblige them to surrender. 

In the case of single Ships. — When a single ship chases an- 
other, it is to be presumed, in general, that one of them is the 
better sailer, though this is not always the case, and still by 
proper manoeuvring the chasing ship, or chaser, may gain on 
the chase. In the following observations, however, we shall 
suppose the chaser to sail faster than the chase. The ma- 
noeuvres of the chaser will depend on her being to windward 
or leeward of the chase. When the chase is to windward, 
it is evident, that as soon as she perceives a single ship which 
she takes for an enemy, she will haul her wind, in order to 
prolong the chase, as otherwise her retreat would soon be cut 
off". The chaser then stands on nearly close-hauled, till she 
has the chase on her beam : she then tacks, and stands on 
close-hauled till the chase is again on her beam, and then re- 
tacks. In this manner she continues tacking every time she 
brings the chase perpendicular to her course on either board ; 
and, by thus manoeuvring, it is certain that the chaser will, 
by the superiority only of her sailing, join the other in the 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 117 

shortest time : for, since the chaser tacks always as soon as 
the chase is perpendicular to her course, she is then at the 
shortest distance possible on that board ; and, since the chaser 
is supposed to be the faster sailer, these shortest distances 
will decrease every time the chaser tacks. It is, therefore, of 
advantage to the chase to keep constantly on the same course, 
without losing her time in going about, as tacking cannot be 
so favourable to her as to her adversary, whose sailing is 
superior. If the captain of the chaser should so little under- 
stand his profession as to stand on a long way, and tack in 
the wake of the chase, the best thing she can do is to heave 
in stays, and pass to w indward of him on the other tack, 
except she should find herself likely to gain advantage by 
going large ; for, if the chaser persists in tacking in the wake 
of the other ship, the pursuit will be very much prolonged. 

When the chase is to leeward, the chaser is to steer that 
course by which she thinks she will gain most on the chase. 
If, after having run a short time, the chase is found to draw 
more aft, the chaser should then bear away a little more ; 
but if the chase draw ahead, the chaser should haul up a 
little, and thus the course may be so regulated that the chase 
may always bear on the same point, and then the chaser will 
get up with the chase in the shortest time possible ; for if any 
other course were steered, the chaser would either be too far 
ahead or too far astern, and hence the pursuit would be pro- 
longed. The chase should run on that course which will 
carry her directly from the chaser, and should consider which 
is her best trim with respect to the wind, that she may move 
with the greatest possible rapidity from the chaser ; for some 
ships have more advantage in going large, others with the 
wind right aft, and others when close-hauled. 

Curve of Pursuit. — Another method has been proposed for 
chasing a ship to leeward ; that is, by constantly steering 
directly for the chase. In this case, the tract described by 
the chaser is called the line or curve of pursuit. To illustrate 
this, let A (Fig. 32) represent the chaser, and B the chase 
directly to leeward of her, and running with less velocity 
than the pursuer, in the direction B C, perpendicular to that 



118 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



C— = 




of the wind. Now, to construct this curve, let B 6 be the 

distance run by the chase in any short interval of time ; join 

„. „^ A b, and make A 1 

Fig. 32. 

equal the distance 

run by the chaser 
in the same time. 
Again, make b c, cd, 
de, ef, &c., each 
equal to B 6 ; join 1 
c, and make 12 = 
A 1 ; join 2 d, and 
make 2 3 equal to A 
1 ; proceed in like 
manner till the two 
distances, carried forward, meet at C, and a curve described 
through the points A, 1,2, 3, &c., w^ill represent nearly the 
curve of pursuit ; and the less the interval A 1 is taken, the 
more accurately will the curve be formed. In this particular 
case, the length of the distance B C may be found as follows, 
provided the distance A B and the proportional velocities of 
the two ships be known. 

Let the velocity of the chase be denoted by a fraction, that 
of the chaser being unity. Multiply the given distance A B 
by this fraction, and divide the product by the complement 
of the square of the same fraction, and the quotient will be 
the distance run by the chase B. Suppose A B, the distance 
of the chase directly to leeward of the chaser, be taken at 
twelve miles, and suppose the velocity of the chase three- 
fourths of that of the chaser, what will be the distance run 
bv the chase before she is overtaken? 



Now J^^=?=9x 



1- 



^|2 



=20| miles ; and, since the velocity 



of the chaser to that of the chase is as 4 to 3, hence the dis- 
tance run by the chaser will be =20^ x f =27f miles. As the 
chaser alters her course at every point, and probably sails 
better with the wind in one direction with respect to her 
course than when the wind is in another direction, her velo- 
city will be different at different points of the course. Thus, 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 119 



suppose her to sail faster when the wind is on the quarter, 
her velocity will constantly increase to a certain point, and 
will then diminish. Hence, in real practice the curve of pur- 
suit will not be exactly what is laid down in the above pro- 
blem, and of course the measure of B C will differ a little 
from what we have there laid down. 

In the case of Fleets. — If the whole fleet is to give chase, 
the commander will make the proper signal, and then each 
ship will instantly make all the sail possible. If the retreat- 
ing fleet is not much inferior to the other, a few of the fastest 
sailing vessels only are to be detached from the superior fleet, 
in order to pick up any stragglers, or those ships which may 
have fallen astern ; and the remaining part of the fleet will 
keep in the same line or order of sailing as the retreating 
fleet, so that they may, if possible, force them to action. But 
if the retreating fleet is much inferior, the commander of the 
superior fleet will make the signal for a general chase, and then 
each ship will immediately crowd all the sail possible after the 
retreating fleet ; or, if the chase be still less numerous, the com- 
mander will detach one of the squadrons of his fleet, by hoist- 
ing the proper signal for that purpose, and he will follow with 
the remainder of the fleet. The squadron that chases should 
be very careful not to engage too far in the chase, for fear of 
being overpowered ; but, at the same time, to endeavour to 
satisfy themselves with regard to the object of their chase. 
They must pay great attention to the chief commander's sig- 
nals at all times ; and, in order to prevent separation, they 
should collect themselves before night, especially if there be 
any appearance of foggy weather coming on, and endeavour 
to join the fleet again. The ships are diligently to observe 
when the chief commander makes the signal to give over 
chase ; and each, regarding the chief commander's ship as a 
fixed point, is to work back into her station, so as to form the 
order of line again as quickly as the nature of the chase and 
the distance will permit. 

When a fleet is obliged to run from an enemy who is in 
sight, it is usual to draw up the ships in that form or order 

called the Order of Retreat ; and the chief commander, when 

< •' 



120 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



hard pursued, without any probability of escaping, ought, if 
practicable, to run his ships ashore, rather than suffer them 
to be taken afloat, and thereby give additional strength to the 
enemy. In short, nothing should be neglected that may con- 
tribute to the preservation of his fleet, or prevent any part 
of it from falling into the hands of the conqueror. 

We have now gone through the principal evolutions of 
fleets and squadrons nearly as they are described in the " Ele- 
ments of Rigging, Seamanship, and Naval Tactics," and other 
approved publications on similar subjects. We have, indeed, 
omitted the method of forcing the enemy's line, and of avoid- 
ing being forced, because the former will be readily under- 
stood from what we have to add on the improved method of 
tactics of Monsieur Grenier, and Mr. Clerk, of Eldin. 

Defects of the usual Line of Battle. 

Various defects have been observed in the tactics usually 
employed at sea, especially in a line of battle, and in the 
mode of bringing an enemy to action. The usual order of 
battle, first introduced by the Duke of York, afterwards 
James II. of England, is defective from its length. Its great 
extent makes it difficult for the chief commander to judge 
what orders are proper to be issued to the ships stationed at 
the extremities, while his signals, however distinctly made, 
are liable to be mistaken by the commanders of these ships : 
besides, the extremities of a long line, especially if it be to 
leeward, are necessarily defenceless, as the enemy may throw 
himself with a superior force on the van or rear, and cut 
either of these off before it can be properly supported by the 
other squadrons. Viscount de Grenier, who was, we believe, 
one of the first to notice these defects, proposed to remedy 
them by introducing a new order of battle. 

Principles of De Grenier's Method of Tactics. 

The leading principles of De Grenier's tactics are founded 
on the following considerations. It is evident that each ship 
of a fleet must at all times occupy the centre of a certain 
horizon : This horizon De Grenier divides into two unequal 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 121 



parts, calling the greater the direct and graduated space, and 
the less the indirect, crossed, and ungraduated space. The 
reason of these appellations is, that on the greater segment 
of the horizontal circle there are twenty different points, 
which may be marked by degrees from one of the close-hauled 
lines to the other, and to which a ship may sail from the cen- 
tre by so many direct courses without tacking, whereas from 
the other twelve points, including that from which the wind 
blows, she cannot ar- pjo- 33^ 




rive uui uy sieeiiiig , -a — —,, 

cross-courses, which .-'' ,A«*^ I 7-^**.\ 

must necessarily de- /^^\<^ \ "O^iN 

lay her progress. Sup- ' "*' -^ °- 

pose, now, a fleet to 
leeward, so disposed 
that only a part of it 
can fight with an- 
other equally nume- V..----'' /'VV / / • \ '• \\ "\ 
rous, and ranged to \ .,.--''' / / / / j \ \ \ '''\ 
windward in a single \ / / / / i \ \ \ 
line, and let the lee "■•<, / / i \ \ ^>' 

fleet be ranged on ""-^ — i.— -''■-"' 

three sides of a lozenge, ah, cd, ef, Fig. 33. The squadron 
ah, which is most to windward, being drawn up in line of 
battle, cannot be fought but by an equal number, A B, C D, 
E F. All the rest of that fleet, therefore, must remain inac- 
tive, unless the ships which are not engaged should try to 
pass to leeward of the fleet ah, cd, ef. But should the ships 
of the weather fleet, which are placed between B and F, bear 
away, as they appear in the figure, between C i and F i, the 
ships between A and B, which are fighting to windward, can- 
not bear away with them. Suppose, now, that the ships 
between C i and F i have passed to leeward, the squadrons 
c d, ef, which are ranged according to De Grenier's system, 
and have not yet been engaged, should come to windward, 
and join with their friends a b against that squadron of the 
enemy A B which is still to windward and engaged ; it is 
almost impossible but that the squadron A B must be de- 

16 L 



122 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 






stroyed by so great a superiority, before it could receive 
assistance from the ships to leeward between C i and F i. 

De Grenier's Orders of Sailing. — He proposes only three 
orders of sailing ; one, when a fleet is to pass a strait ; a 
second, when it steers in open sea, on the look-out for an 
enemy, or with a view to avoid him ; and a third, when on 
an extensive cruise, disposed so that it cannot be easily sur- 
Fig. 34. prised or broken. Of 

these three orders, only 
the second and third dif- 
■^^ fer from the usual orders 

f —^^-^""^ ^^^r ®^ sailing. The former 

-^ h of these is represented 
^^^ by Fig. 34, where the 
^^•^ columns, ah, cd, ef, are 

disposed on three sides 
of a regular lozenge, on the two close-hauled lines. The 
ships of the two divisions c d, ef, sometimes to windward, as 
Fig. 35. in Fig. 35, and sometimes 

^^^ to leeward, as in Fig. 34, 

e j^r'^ of the third division a b, 

** '^ are to be formed on two 

^v j^-^ parallels of one of the 

^.^^^..^'^ close-hauled lines in the 

wakes of their respective 
headmost ships, while the third division, a h, is to be ranged 
ahead or astern of the others on the other close-hauled line, 
steering chequerwise the same course as the other divisions. 
When a 6 is to windward of c c? and ef (Fig. 34), De Grenier 
calls that the windward primitive order of sailing ; and when 
to leeward (Fig. 35), the fleet is said to be in the leeioard 
primitive order of sailing. These are the two principal posi- 
tions in almost every case, and, with very little variety, may 
become the order of battle, of chasing, &c. 

His third order is illustrated by Fig. 36, where the divi- 
sions a b and ef are supposed at the distance of about six 
leagues from each other ; cd and ef resting on the extremities 
of the base of a triangle S T V, while the centre ship of the 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 123 



division ab rests on its summit T: none of the divisions 
would be cut off by an enemy, however formidable, seen 
from its centre ship at the distance of six leagues ; for if, on 
the proper signal, the division a b should steer from T toward 

Fig. 36. 
y^ ^:-~-i.„._l hi rn^>..., y 




X, on the course opposite to the close-hauled line it steered 
before, and the two divisions c d and ef steer from V and S 
towEirds X likewise, it is plain that each of these divisions 
would have only three leagues to run in order to join the 
other two, while the enemy, which was first perceived at the 
distance of six leagues, must run nine before he can come up 
with the nearest of these squadrons. 

De Grenier's Order of Battle. — To form De Grenier's order 
of battle, represented in Figs. 37 and 38, it will be sufficient 
for the ships of the three divisions ranged in the windward 
primitive order of sailing, to heave in stays all together, and 

Fig. 37. Fig. 38. 




get on the other tack on the opposite line of bearing (Fig. 37) ; 
or for the ships in the leeward primitive order at once to haul 
the wind on the same tack as they steer ; and they will find 
themselves in order of battle, (Fig. 38). When the two 
columns c d and ef are to leeward of the third division a b, 
ranged in order of battle, this is called the natural order of 
battle ; and when c d and ef are to windward of a b, this is 



124 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 




called the inverted order of battle. The former of these is 
calculated for a fleet combating to leeward, and the latter for 
a fleet which must fight to windward. 

To explain the advantages of these dispositions, let us sup- 
pose the line A B, C D, E F, Fig. 39, to represent an enemy's 
fleet to windward in the usual order of battle, on the close- 
hauled line, and on the 
starboard tack ; and let 
a 6 be one of the divi- 
sions of a fleet disposed 
according to the now 
natural order, on the star- 
board tack, while the 
lines c d, ef, represent the other two divisions standing on 
chequerwise on the same tack, but formed on the opposite 
close-hauled line. When the enemy comes to attack this lat- 
ter fleet on a supposition that it is inferior to their own, their 
divisions A B and E F, in order to attack the ships a or h, 
must bear away. Now, to prevent the attack, each of the 
divisions cd, ef, must make the following evolutions, accord- 
ing to their respective situations and the manoeuvres of the 
enemy. 1. The ships of the division ab are to slacken as 
much as possible their headways, and form a very close line, 
till the enemy makes a movement to attack the headmost or 
sternmost ship of that division. 2. The ships of the division 
c d are to make sail till they come under the second or third 
ship of the rear of the line of battle a h, when they will take 
the same sail as the ships of that division, to preserve that 
position until the hostile ships make their evolution to attack 
the rear ships of that division. In this situation the ships of 
the division c d will be able to observe the manoeuvres of the 
enemy, in order to change tack, and form themselves in order 
of battle on the opposite board as soon as the hostile ships shall 
have run over a certain space ; because the ships of the divi- 
sion c d, steering afterwards close-hauled in the wake of the 
sternmost ship of the division ab, will be able to cover the 
rear ships of that division, and get the weather-gage of the 
hostile divisions which are bearing away ; rake their ships ; 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 125 



run alongside of them; double their rear-guard, and put it 
between two fires, if those hostile ships are following in the 
wake of each other ; divide it, if they bear away chequer- 
wise ; or gain to windward, and put between two fires the 
enemy's division C D, while engaged with the division a b. 
3. The division ef may abandon their post, and run chequer- 
wise under a press of sail, as soon as the enemy falls ahead 
of ah ; that if the enemy's division A B attempt to fall on 
ef, or on the van of a b, they may, by going about, steer in 
order of battle close-hauled on the opposite line, and cover 
the ship a, double the hostile division C D ahead, or divide 
A B, which is running chequerwise on the opposite tack. 

Fig. 40 marks an- ^'^'J^' 

other method of 



manoeuvring by the ^"^rv -,-. • 

1- • ■ J J- - O-^ ^^^>,^ 
divisions c a, e f, f i,v^ > _ w^ 

when the enemy s V- ^^ii*;^r::^i^'^^^ 

ships are arranged ^ "^ '^^s 

in a single line, not 

well formed. 

Figs. 41 and 42 illus- Fig. 41. 

Ha. 

trate De Grenier's me- y <P^ 

thod of placing the chief t^'^ ^- 

commander's ship, and ^, /^ <:p <ry ^ ^^- j^ 

the frigates and trans- CP" ^ ^ ■i:::^^^ ^^^^^^^7 

ports attached to a fleet. ^ C^^ ^^ ^c^^ 

A, Fig. 41, is the chief "^c^^c::? ^ 

commander, placed a- 

head of the fleet, at a short distance from the headmost of the 

second division, and in Fig. 42. 

most ship of the first Xn^^^cs 

division : /, /, are two . '^^^ "■ --^a ^^^s^ 

frigates, observing the ^^^^*^:^^~-W" ^. '^<^^^ 

same rule and position ^''^^^^'^^^^xxL'X^ "Cx^-^ 

with respect to the van ^^^^^^""x^^- 
ship of the third, and 



the same direction of 
the wind as the head- 



126 , THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

rear of the first division. When the fleet is in order of battle, 
as in Fig. 42, the chief commander's ship, A, is in the centre 
of the lozenge, and two of the frigates,/,/, are on the fourth 
side of the lozenge. The transports and store-ships, when the 
fleet is in order of sailing or convoy, occupy the space cir- 
cumscribed by the lozenge, but in order of battle they are dis- 
posed in a line, opposite to that of the enemy. 

Such are the principles of L'Art de Guerre en Mer, on 
Tactique Navale, &c., par M. le Viscompte de Grenier. 

Mr. Clerk's Tactics. 

His Objections to the usual Method of Attack. — Before enter- 
ing on an explanation of Mr. Clerk's tactics, it will be proper 
to state his objections to the usual method of bringing ships 
to action, by the weather ship or fleet steering directly down 
upon the enemy. By doing this, the enemy to leeward often 
has an opportunity of completely disabling the ships making 
the attack, as the former can use all their guns on one side, 
while the latter can only use their bow-chasers. Suppose B, 
Fig. 43. Fig. 43, to represent a ship of Fig. 44. 

" ' ^ eighty guns to windward, in sight 1 

of an enemy's ship of equal force, 
F, to leeward. Now, if B bears 

^- down directly upon F, the latter, 

by lying to, as in Fig. 44, will 
present a broadside of forty guns, all bearing for a ^ 
considerable time on B, while the latter, coming down head- 
wise, can only bring the two light guns of her forecastle to 
bear on F ; not to mention that F, by lying broadside to, will 
have her masts and rigging little exposed to the enemy's shot, 
while B, standing head on, is exposed to be raked by every 
shot from F ; and in particular, her rigging is in the utmost 
danger. 

Clerk's new method. — Instead of this objectionable mode of 

attack, Mr. Clerk proposes that B, having the wind, should 

run down astern, as in the dotted line at Fig. 45, till she gets 

into the course of F, near her wake, or in such a position as 

ilwill bring her parallel to F's course, and within a proper 

I ! 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 127 



distance, when she can run up close alongside of F, and engage 
on equal terms ; or, that she should shoot ahead, then veer. 

Fig. 46. 

Fig. 45. B 

— ^ 

/ 




B 



i 



and run down on the weather bow of F, as in Fig. 46, till she 
can force the chase to bear away to leeward, keeping close 
by her, on equal terms, taking care, in both cases, not to put 
it in the power of F to bring her broadside to bear on her 
without retaliation. 

Effects of firing at the Hull or Rigging. 

Fig. 47 is employed by Mr. Clerk to illustrate the different 
procedure of a French and an English man of war in firing, 
the former at the rigging, and the latter at the Fig. 47. 

hull of the enemy, with their effects. Let F b/ij m 

represent a large ship desirous of avoiding a \ \ 

close engagement, but lying to to receive with \ \ 

advantage an enemy's ship, B, of equal force. j j 

Suppose that F, by firing at the rigging of B, ^ ■• 

may have carried away some of the principal stays, several 
of the windward shrouds, a fore-topmast, or other rigging of 
less consequence, without having wounded a single man ; and 
suppose a second ship, consort to F, receiving an enemy's 
ship like B, but firing only at her hull, so as to kill thirty or 
forty men, without damaging her rigging. Now, when F 
and her consort wish to avoid a close engagement, it is evi- 
dent that the ship B, which has lost part of her rigging, is 
much more disabled from coming to close action than her 
consort, whose rigging is entire, though she may have lost a 
great number of her men. 



128 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



One Ship of the Line cannot he exposed to the Fire of many 

Ships. 
By the scheme at Fig. 48, it is intended to illustrate the 
impossibility of one ship being exposed to the fire of many 
ships at one time. Let I, H, F, H, I, represent five ships in 
line of battle ahead, about a cable's length, or 240 yards 
asunder ; and suppose the length of each ship to be forty 
yards, so that the whole space betv^^een the head of one ship 
and the head of that next adjacent equals 280 yards. Let 
the perpendicular line F K, extending from the beam of F 
six cables' lengths, or 1440 yards, be divided into six equal 
parts. It is evident that any ship stationed at E in the line 
F K, 720 yards distant, cannot long be exposed to the fire of 
more than the centre ship, F, of this squadron. For, if we 
suppose that H and K, ahead and astern of F, can bring 
their broadsides to bear on E, by putting themselves in posi- 
tions for that purpose, they will not only disorder their own 
Fig. 48. Jin6, but one will leave her head and 

K the other her stern exposed to a raking 

/j'\ fire from the opposite ships B B in the 

/^ \ enemy's line. If B can sufler little 

/ ^ \ from the two ships H, H, at the dis- 

/ /J \ \ tance of 720 yards, it is evident that 

/"/"^"W she will sufter still less from these 

//.. / ^\ \\ ships as she approaches nearer the 

/ [ \ \\ enemy's line. Again, if, instead of a 
^/^""^''"^''"n^"%^ cable's length asunder, we suppose the 
/ / J_ \ \ ships I, F, I, two cables' length asun- 
1 H. r 11 I dgj., to bear on the ship B, it is evident 
from the figure, that in this case B will not be more exposed 
to the fire of I and I at the distance of 1440 yards, than she 
was to that of H and H at half that distance ; and so in 
similar cases. 

Principles on which the bringing of Ships to Action is founded. 

In explaining the principles on which we are to judge of 
the advantages or defects of different modes of bringing ships 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 129 

to action, Mr. Clerk supposes a fleet of ten, twenty, or more 

ships of eighty guns each, Fig, 49. 

drawn up in line of battle 

to leeward, as at F, (Fig. 

49), and lying to with an 

intention of avoiding an p 

action : while another fleet ^ ^ ^ "^ 

as B, of equal number and force, also drawn up in line of 

battle, three or four miles to windward, wishes to make an 

attack, and come to close quarters on equal terms. The fleets 

being thus disposed, should the fleet at B attempt running 

down to attack the fleet at F, each ship standing head on to 

the opposite ship in the leeward line, it is to be expected, 

from what we have already stated, that the attacking ships 

will be disabled at least in their rigging before they can come 

to close action ; but, suppose that the commander of the 

weather fleet, though his ships have been disabled in their 

rigging during their course a a a, to leeward, Fig. 50, has 

made them bring to at a great F'g- ^^^ 

distance, but sufficiently near to 

injure F ; this latter fleet, which 

has been endeavouring to avoid f 

an action, will now bear away 

with little injury to a new station, / 

as G, and there remain out of the / ^ 

reach of B's shot; and this fleet ■^•-^■^^w-^ •€»-«■ 

must repair its rigging before it can make another attack. 

Again, suppose that the fleet B, instead of standing head 
on, were to run down in an angular course, as in Fig. 51. It 
is plain that if any ship in 
this angular line should be ^^S- ^l- 

crippled, her defect in sail- ^"^--^j.^^ b 

ing will occasion a confusion ^"'^^ a 

of several of the other ships f ^. ^^^ 

in that line. It may be said, ^^^^ ^ ^^ 

that the stoppage of one 

ship ahead will not necessarily produce a stoppage of every 
ship astern of her, because they may run to leeward of the 

17 



130 . THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



disabled ship ; but we must observe that by this time the 
ships ahead in the van of A may be engaged, and consequently, 
not having much headway, are nearly stationary, so that each 
ship astern, in attempting to bear down, as at D, D, may be 
confined to a certain course, and must run the risk of being 
raked in coming down before the wind, and consequently, of 
being disabled before coming up with the enemy. 

Thirdly, the van of the fleet B having attained their sta- 
tion at A, abreast of the van of F, Fig. 52, and having begun 

the action, the van 

Fig. 52. ships of F, with a 

^^ view to retreat, may 

^<^ B B D A throw in a broad- 

^ ^V^^--^^- side on the van of 

^•-^^E o\ G^l % ^' ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ 

away in succession, 

as at H, followed by the rest of the fleet F, which, after ex- 

„. ^„ changingbroadsideswith 

Fig. 53. , r T, 

7 the van of B, may draw 
^^^^►^^^^^^^^^^"^ up in a new line two or 
three miles to leeward, at I, I, Fig. 53. 

Suppose, again, for further illustration, that B, Fig. 54, 

represents a fleet put- 
ting before the wind, 
each ship intending, 

ip--"^--t--t--t--(jh-|I)--iIl"--iI^"t-"l]] ^hen brought to at a 

determined distance at 

A, to take up her par- 

cboc=Dcr3irDcoco -^ oog3 ticular antagonist in 

the line of the enemy, 
F, to leeward ; and let 

i^ 1 * ^1 1 -1 F be supposed at rest, 

without any motion a- 
head. It is easy to 
conceive that, while the 
alternate ships of F's line, under cover of the smoke, with- 
draw from battle to G, G, G, the intermediate ships left be- 
hind them in the line will be sufiicient to amuse even the 



Fisf. 54. 



A. 



G 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 



131 



whole of B's fleet, till the ships G shall form a new line H, 
as a support from the leeward. In such case B, after being 
disabled, and not having foreseen the manoeuvre, will neither 
be able to prevent the intermediate ships with which he is 
engaged from bearing away to join their friends, nor, were 
he able, would it be advisable to follow them ; for the same 
manoeuvre, with equal success, can again and again be repeated. 

To explain the relative motion of these two fleets, let F, 
Fig. 55, represent a fleet of twelve ships in line of battle, a 
cable's length asun- Fis. 55 

der, and suppose 
the length of each 
ship from the end 
of the jib-boom to 
the stern to be 36f 
fathoms. The whole 
fleet will occupy a 
space of two Eng- 
lish miles ; and if it 
be supposed to sail 
in the direction F 
G, at the rate of four knots an hour, it will in an hour have 
moved to G, four miles from its former position. 

Now, let there be an opposite fleet B, also twelve ships, 
situated four miles to windward, and let the point A be a 
quarter of a mile right to windward of the point G. Then, 
if B, by bearing away in the direction B A, gain the point 
A at the same time 

that the leeward fleet ^'g- 56. 
F has arrived at G, 
B will have moved 
nearly at the rate of 
.5^ miles an hour, and 
the angle contained 
between the direc- 
tion of its line of 1-^J«-^ — i 

bearing and its pre- 
sent course will be nearly four points. 




C B 









"a" 4 6 8**^ 



132 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 




Secondly, in Fig. 56, if F, by carrying more sail, move at 

the rate of six miles an hour from F to G, then B, with a 

more slanting course, will have more difficulty in keeping the 

line abreast while coming down to the attack, owing to the 

additional obstruction which will attend each succeeding ship 

in such a slanting course. Again, if the leeward fleet shall 

lie up one point higher, as F G, Fig. 57, the rears of the 

two fleets will be re- 

'^* * moved to a much 

B , 

5^^^^^^^^^^...„..^...^...^ 1 i i i ■ greater distance,and 

L_™".tv.-.-^. J.".:::;:4--c.----; 1 -; \ the van A must be 

: 1 i" 1. i '"i i i ! • i i 

j 1 j i (.... °fe°o455--.i. iA sooner up with the 

' = j i i i r j J enemy s van, and oi 

]• \ 1- -],^-->?!^-*l I H course, so much far- 

4,^ — X I KiM j I tner trom support, 

..... „_. ^ a • 4 6 6 7 -while F, bringing up 

his ships in succession, may disable the van of A, and after- 
wards bear away at pleasure with little injury, as at H. Now 
B being supposed disabled, and having his rear D, distracted, 
will be unable to prevent F from escaping. 

From these considerations, it appears that a fleet to wind- 
ward, by extending its line of battle, with a view to stop and 
attack the whole line of an enemy's fleet to leeward, must 
labour under considerable disadvantages, and will scarcely 
succeed in the attempt. 

New Mode of MtacTi from the Windward. 

On these principles Mr. Clerk explains the reason why the 
French fleets so repeatedly escaped from the English without 
any serious defeat or loss, viz., by avoiding a general engage- 
ment, and disabling the English van as it bore down to at- 
tack them. He therefore recommends a different mode of 
attack from the windward, which we shall proceed to illus- 
trate by proper diagrams. 

Let F, Fig. 58, represent a fleet in line of battle, under 
easy sail, willing to avoid an action, but ready to receive an 
attack in the usual way, from another fleet B, three or four 
miles to windward, arranged in three columns. How shall 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 133 



B make the attack on F, so as, without aiming at the impro- 

Fig. 58. 



bable advantage of taking or destroying the greater part of 
this fleet, they may secure three or four of the sternmost 
ships? Mr. Clerk advises that a sufficient strength be de- 
tached to secure these ships, while the chief commander keeps 
aloof with the rest of his fleet, disposed as in the figure, ready 
to make the necessary observations, and give the requisite 
support to the detached ships. If F continues to avoid an 
action by standing on in line, the detachment, coming into 
the position B A, will secure the three ships at I; and if the 
headmost ships of F were to tack, and be followed by the 
rest in succession, as 

in Fig. 59, not only Fig- 59. 

the three ships at I . b _^;^^ 

will be left at the ^^^ c ^^ 

mercy of the ships ^ ^5^ ■•^•■«>^^^»«- 

detached from B, but 

two more, as G, will be exposed to an attack from another 
squadron of B, at C. If all the ships of F tack together, as 
in Fig. 60, the delay. Fig. 60. 

and probably the ^ ^_ 

confusion. consequent >^&.^^^^^^ 

on this manoeuvre, ^^e, 
will still more en- ^^^*^ 
danger the sternmost 
ships, or will bring on a general and close action. Again, if 
F attempts to haul off", beginning with his sternmost ship G, 
and then runs to leeward, as at Fig. 61, he will expose his 
ships to a raking fire from B, and still endanger his sternmost 
ships, by getting too far to leeward for their support ; or, if 



134 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



the headmost ships at H, Fig. 62, veer first, and be followed 

Fig. 61. by the rest astern, the 

B<>^'^^^\ danger would be still 

^^sS^^^M^/^b'^ ,SaaiT- greater. Thus it appears 
v!^^J/j/j'O^^^^T~^^!^n J J that, in every assignable 

^ 00<^ ^ //»/##// case, a fleet to leeward, 

11. 

Fig. 62. Fig. 63. 




^^ 



^^ — f£ilf^ -*'* 



avoiding an attack from an equal or superior to windward, 
as here advised, by preserving the line, will risk the loss of 
three or more of their sternmost ships. 

Now, let us suppose that F, while standing on a line on the 
larboard tack, when threatened with an attack on his rear 
from B, veers and passes on opposite tacks to leeward. (See 
p. g . Fig. 63.) The consequence 

^ of this will be, that his 

^ ^-•^"■^ 1^ ^^^^ headmost ships will be 
•< — ^^ j^""^"^^^ ^ ^ •i forced to leeward by B, 
(f) M and compelled to engage 

jj, j under disadvantageous cir- 

\ cumstances ; and the dis- 

^^ -^»— -a^ -*»-^ advantage to F will be 

much the same, whether he again veers and resumes his 
Fig- 65. former position, as at G, 

.-^■"^^"^"^'"^"^••■^ Fig. 64, or stands on be- 
^ f^ jm-^"^ * ^-•■-••...^ fore the wind as at P, Fig. 
0^^ (^ ^ ^ 65. 

flj $^ We have liillierto sup- 

i I posed that the wind has 

^ |P been fixed to one point ; but 

I let us suppose it to shift, 

and let us inquire what will be the effect of such a circum- 
stance on the two lines F and B. While the fleets are in the 
former position, F in line, and B in four divisions, B, B, B, A, 



WARUKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 135 



Steering east, with the wind at north, (Fig. 66,) let the wind 

Fig. 66. 



a 



shift to the west. The only consequence of this will be, that 
F will be thrown still farther to leeward, to its greater dis- 
advantage. But let Fig. 67. 
the wind shift to east, 
so as to be ahead, as ev ^ ^ 



in Figs. 67 and 68; _^ ^b^ , 



still, if the commander ^ ^ ^ 

of B manages properly, ''^'^^^^^^ v ^ ^^ ^^ ^ '^ 

and carefully watches ^e^^^^ n >•§ 

the motions of F, this ^ ^ ^ m o $ 

change will produce no © f 

advantage to the latter. ^ 

For B has nothing to >i® 

do but veer as the wind ^ 

comes round, so as to bring his ships to windward of the three 
sternmost ships of F, and to leeward of the rest of his line, 
so as to cut off the three sternmost ships. 

If the wind should 
be supposed to veer *^' 

from point to point, all n 

round the compass, so 
that the fleet F, main- b 

taining the weather- 
gage of B, shall make a 
circuit round B to lee- cD-CDcyciy 
ward; still, if B act ^^^ ^ 
cautiously, F will lose ^^\. ^ 
the three threatened 
ships. 



B 



N 



136 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



Lastly, suppose the wind should instantly shift to a point 
opposite to what it was at the commencement of the attack, 
as from north to south. Before it can be ascertained whether 
such a change will be to the advantage or disadvantage of F, 
the relative situations of the two fleets must be considered. 
Suppose that the van and centre be separated at some dis- 
tance from his rear, and that in consequence this fleet shall 
have taken such a position as is shown at Fig. 69. Though 
Y[a. 69. ^^ this case he will have 

4^^ got to windward, his 

"^■^^ three ships can never 

^^^^s:, be regained or preserved 

^&%> Z^ from the attack of B. 

^ Jf^H. ^£^^r-:<;>:ocnooc:;c?<^ ^^^ "^^^^ favourable 
^^^^ 1 ^^ situation for F would be 

^ 'r ^* 1 1 n 

1 -♦* when the fleets were m 

^* the position denoted by 

Fig. 66, as then he could not only support his three ships 
with advantage, but even threaten, and cut off" a part of B's 
detachment. In attempting this, however, he incurs the risk 
of coming to a close engagement, which we have supposed 
him to be sedulously avoiding. 

From the Leeward. 

Besides this method of attack from the windward, by de- 
tachments from the main fleet, Mr. Clerk shows how a suc- 
cessful attack may be made by a fleet to leeward, by its break- 
ing the enemy's line, and this, either near the rear, near the 
centre, or not far from the van, of which cases the two former 
will be most likely to prove successful. The enemy's line can 
only be cut when the two hostile fleets veer on opposite tacks. 
The most simple method of effecting this is, for the van ship 
of the attacking squadron, instead of ranging parallel to that 
of the enemy, and to leeward of him, to pass through the first 
interval that oflTers, followed by the rest of the line, which is 
thus led across that of the enemy. In consequence of this 
manoeuvre, the van of the leeward fleet will be to windward 
of the enemy's rear, and thus the attacking squadron will 



WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 137 

have its line entire, while that of its adversary is divided. 
Again, the ships of the rear division, having their progress 
obstructed, will probably crowd on each other, get into confu- 
sion, and be driven to leeward. 

Having now laid down the fundamental rules by which 
armies and fleets are managed, we shall, in the next chapter, 
commence the American Wars, at a period when Washington 
commences his great career, and the British urge their pre- 
posterous doctrine — the right of taxing colonies not repre- 
sented in her government ; which led, finally, to a rupture 
between the " mother country" and her infant colonies. 



18 M«^ 



138 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1753. 



PAET II. 



FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 



CHAPTER I. 

Introduction — Cause of the War — The Ohio Company — George Washington's 
Mission to the Western Wilderness — His Sufferings and Dangers — His Return. 

When our enterprising fathers had become willing exiles, 
far from the land of their birth, to seek a home in an almost 
unknown and trackless wilderness, where they hoped to escape 
from that religious persecution, and political oppression, which 
had for ages swept like a moral pestilence over the earth, or 
lay as a heavy load on the souls of men ; when their un- 
ceasing toils had opened the forest to the fertilizing rays of 
the sun, and sheltered them from the inclemency of the 
elements ; when they had struggled for years against a foe 
who was eloquent in council, brave and artful in the field, 
ferocious in anger, their lives teeming with disgusting excess 
and brutal passion, despising danger and death, neither asking 
for, nor extending mercy ; when they had encountered the 
shaggy bear, and heard the terrifying roar of the lion, the 
fierce growl of the sanguinary tiger, and the howl of the ra- 
pacious wolf around their little habitations, where the general 
stillness which reigned in the vast forest weis broken, only by 
the thunder of the cataract, the deep voice of Indians, or 
the meanings of wild beasts, as they " roared after their prey, 
and sought their meat from God ;" when the quarrels between 
foreign monarchs had involved our fathers in a bloody war 



1753.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 139 

with the French and Indians in the reign of William III ; 
when the jealousy subsisting between the British, French, 
and Spanish, aided by an ungovernable thirst for power and 
dominion in x'Vmerica, had again impoverished and distressed 
the colonies, crimsoned the soil with the blood of the valiant 
in the time of Queen Anne's War ; when similar causes had 
aroused the demon War again, to spread terror and death, 
with fire and sword, in the reign of George II, during which 
periods, men professing to be Christians, turned those ruthless 
blood-hounds of the forest against each other, who, rushing 
from their ambushes with fiendish yell, often waged inglorious 
war, with the tomahawk and scalping-knife, against the weak 
and the innocent ; and when all these horrors, like a legion of 
destroying fiends, had stalked over the infant colonies, crush- 
ing for a time almost every ray of hope, and darkening the 
tortured mind with dread and paralyzing despair, hope burst 
suddenly upon their delighted vision, and the gladdened mul- 
titude with tearful eyes 

" Grave to seraphic harps their sounding lays, 
Their joys to angels, and to men their praise." 

Human happiness or misery is more acutely felt by con- 
trast. Men who excite themselves to joy and hilarity one 
day, are gloomy and often miserable the next, by contrast. 
This is the case after a ball, or other great convivial sports, 
not so much from the fatigue, as from the deprivation of the 
stimulus of the exhilirating scene. If, on the other hand, men 
are depressed until their agonized hearts seem to bleed ; if the 
cause of misery is merely removed, this negative joy will 
almost make them frantic. These being facts which every 
reflecting mind must acknowledge, it is easy to conceive the 
mental agony of the colonists, when again the dread tocsin 
fell upon their startled ears, ushering in a seven years' war, 
which once more hurried them from their peaceful homes to 
engage in the bloody conflict. 

This is commonly called the French and Indian War; 
though rather indefinitely, for in reality it was a war between 
France and England, in which the Indians were employed as 
allies. 



140 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1753. 



The cause of this war was the alleged encroachments of the 
French upon Nova Scotia, upon the Ohio territory, and even 
Virginia. 

The French had founded New France or Canada. Quebec 
and Montreal were strongly fortified, as well as other settle- 
ments in New France. The frontier was also defended at 
Louisburg, Cape Breton, by the forts of Lake Champlain, 
Niagara, Crown Point, Ticonderoga, and at other points. 

With such a formidable power, commanding the lakes in 
the north, with the possession of the mouth of the Mississippi 
river in the south, having settled a colony in Louisiana, the 
French formed the bold and grand design of erecting a chain 
of fortifications from their northern to their southern posses- 
sions, drive the English back, and restrict their settlements to 
the eastern side of the Alleghany mountains. 

In pursuance of this design, the French built a fort at 
Presqu' He, on Lake Erie, others along French Creek, and at 
a later period fort Du Quesne, at the confluence of the Alle- 
ghany and Monongahela rivers. A fort was also built at the 
junction of the Wabash and Ohio, together with temporary 
fortifications at proper distances. 

By placing the map of the United States before you, marking 
the mouth of the Mississippi river, the mouth of the Wabash, 
Pittsburg, the course of French Creek, a branch of the Ohio, 
and the lakes of the north, you will perceive the contemplated 
chain of defence. This expedient may at least serve to keep 
us awake until we shall hear the noise of battle. 

The hostile feelings and intentions already existing, it only 
required some overt act to light the smoking torch of war 
into a full blaze. 

The Ohio Company, so called from the river of that name, 
composed of influential men from London and Virginia, had 
obtained a charter grant of a large tract of land near the 
Ohio, for the twofold purpose of settling the country, and 
trading in fur with the Indians. The Governor of Canada 
determining to execute the favourite project of uniting Canada 
with Louisiana, wrote to the Governors of Pennsylvania and 
New York, declaring that he would seize all English traders 



1753.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 141 

who w^ould make further encroachments upon what he es- 
teemed French territory. As the land had been granted to 
the English from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean, they regarded 
the French as presumptuous intruders, and thus, viewing each 
other like two pugnacious cats in a garret, the English con- 
tinued their trade with the Indians until several of them were 
seized and carried to Presqu' He on Lake Erie. 

This aroused the indignation of the company, who, com- 
plaining to Dinwiddie, Li(^ut. Governor of Virginia, a full and 
eloquent statement of the aggressions of the French was laid 
before the Assembly, which empow^ered the Lieut. Governor 
to despatch a messenger to the French commandant stationed 
within the disputed territories, to demand explanations of his 
hostile conduct, and to order him to withdraw his troops from 
the English possessions. 

But who would have the courage to undertake so arduous 
and dangerous a mission, and who would have the capacity 
to execute it ? Who would wander through an almost unex- 
plored wilderness, over so large a surface of country, inhabited 
only by Indians, many of whom were hostile to the English? 
A young man aged only twenty -one years appears before his 
excellency. The down of youth has just commenced growing 
on his cheek. He dreads no danger, but his proud and lofty 
soul, already developed, shrinks back from the thought that 
he might be rejected on account of his youth. George Wash- 
ington never trembled in the presence of a foe. He never dis- 
obeyed the call of his country, however difficult or perilous 
the task to be performed. He never undertook the most Her- 
culean task that did not, in the end, gain him the esteem and 
applause of his countrymen. 

The governor places a commission into his hands. And 
now, like Luther, who would go to Worms, in the name of 
the Lord, though as many devils as there are tiles on the 
houses were there combined against him, Washington resolved 
to go, though all the Indians, with the commander-in-chief of 
the legion to which Luther alluded, should oppose him ; and 
not to relax his efforts until he arrived at the destined fort, in 
the western wilderness. 



142 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1753. 



See, where the Alleghany mountain invades the sky, 
" On a throne of rocks, in a robe of clouds, 
With a diadem of snow." 
The winter blasts drive back the life-blood upon the shudder- 
ing hearts of men ; the clouds roll in swift and heavy masses 
along the arched vault of the heavens ; the tempestuous winds 
tear from the earth the majestic oak and hurl it down from 
the dizzy height with a crash that echoes over the trembling 
earth ; torrents of rain sweep furiously through the air, and, 
mingling with the snow, quickly swell the silvery streamlets 
into dark and howling rivers, until 

" Wide o'er the brim, with many a torrent swell'd, 
And the mix'd ruin of its banks o'erspread, 
At last the roused-up river pours along : 
Resistless, roaring, dreadful, down it comes 
From the rude mountain, and the mossy wild, 
Tumbling through rocks abrupt, and sounding far ; 
Then o'er the sanded valley floating spreads, 
Calm, sluggish ; till again, constrain'd. 
Between two meeting hills, it bursts away 
Wliere rocks and woods o'erhang the turbid stream ; 
It boils, and wheels, and foams, and thunders through." 

Now look again, and you will see a young man aged about 
twenty-one years climbing up the mountain, with breathless 
toil, wet, and hungry, and cold, amid the terrible war of the 
elements. His servants, and even the tawny sons of the 
forest who guide his way, look around them with dismay ; but 
he toils onward with a countenance that bespeaks the high 
i unwavering soul, the dauntless heart, the love of true and 
honourable glory. The welfare of his country uppermost in 
his mind, has become a passion which rolls like a torrent over, 
and crushes every thought of danger or bodily suffering. 

Again, we see young Washington wander on the Monon- 
gahela, where he holds council with the Indian chiefs with 
the wisdom of a Nestor. 

He travels again, accompanied by the chiefs, a distance of 
sixty miles, through incessant rains, until they arrive at a 
French fortification, at the mouth of French Creek, a branch 
of the Ohio, where they met Capt. Joncaire, who sends them 



1753.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 143 



on another four days' journey up the creek, during which they 
encounter excessive rains, snow, mire, swamps, and every 
thins that is abominable to the traveller, to a fort commanded 
by a general officer. 

Washington delivers his letter, and receives in answer from 
the commandant, M. St. Pierre, that he was only responsible 
to the Governor of Canada, under whose orders he was acting. 

And now, hear the man who afterwards wrenched a sceptre 
from the paws of the British lion, and placed it into the 
hands of his countrymen. He is now returning part of the 
way by water, having sent his horses forward : 

" We had a tedious and very fatiguing passage down the 
creek. Several times we had like to have been staved against 
rocks ; and many times were obliged all hands to get out and 
remain in the water half an hour or more, getting over the 
shoals. At one place, the ice had lodged, and made it impass- 
able by water ; we were, therefore, obliged to carry our canoe 
across the neck of land, a quarter of a mile over. We did 
not reach Venango until the 22d December. 

" This creek is extremely crooked ; I dare say, the distance 
between the fort and Venango cannot be less than one hun- 
dred and thirty miles, to follow the meanders." 

At Venango, situated at the mouth of French creek, 
Washington met his horses again. He continues, 

" Our horses were now so weak and feeble, and the baggage 
so heavy, (as we were obliged to provide all the necessaries 
which the journey would require,) that we doubted much 
their performing it. Therefore, myself and others, except 
the drivers, who were obliged to ride, gave up our horses for 
packs, to assist along with the baggage. I put myself in an 
Indian walking-dress, and continued with them three days, 
until I found there was no probability of their getting home 
in any reasonable time. The horses became less able lo 
travel every day ; the cold increased very fast ; and the roads 
were becoming much worse by a deep snow, continually 
freezing ; therefore, as I was uneasy to get back, to make re- 
port of my proceedings to his honour the Governor, I deter- 



144 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1753. 



mined to prosecute my journey, the nearest way through the 
woods, on foot. 

"Accordingly, I left Mr. Vanbraam in charge of our bag- 
gage, with money, and directions to provide necessaries from 
place to place for themselves and horses, and to make the 
most convenient despatch in travelling. 

" I took my necessary papers, pulled off my clothes, and 
tied myself up in a watch-coat. Then, with gun in hand, 
and pack on my back, in which were my papers and provi- 
sions, I set out with Mr. Gist, fitted in the same manner, on 
Wednesday, the 26th. The day following, just after we had 
passed a place called Murdering Town, (where we intended 
to quit the path and steer across the country for Shannapins 
Town,) we fell in with a party of French Indians, who had 
laid in wait for us. One of them fired at Mr. Gist or me, not 
fifteen steps off, but fortunately missed. We took this fellow 
into custody, and kept him until about nine o'clock at night, 
then let him go, and walked all the remaining part of the 
night without making any stop, that we might get the start 
so far, as to be out of the reach of their pursuit the next day ; 
since we were well assured they would follow our track as 
soon as it was light. The next day we continued travelling 
until quite dark, and got to the river (Monongahela) about 
two miles above Shannapins. We expected to have found 
the river frozen, but it was not, only about fifty yards from 
each shore. The ice, I suppose, had broken up above, for it 
was driving in vast quantities. 

" There was no way for getting over but on a raft ; which 
we set about, with but one poor hatchet, and finished just 
after sun-setting. This was a whole day's work : we next 
got it launched, then went on board of it, and set oflf: but 
before we were half-way over, we were jammed in the ice 
in such a manner, that we expected every moment our raft to 
sink, and ourselves to perish. I put out my setting-pole to 
try to stop the raft, that the ice might pass by ; when the 
rapidity of the stream threw; it with so much violence against 
the pole, that it jerked me out into ten feet w'ater ; but I for- 
tunately saved myself by catching hold of one of the raft-logs. 



1754.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 145 

" Notwithstanding all our efforts, we could not get on either 
shore, but were obliged, as we were near an island, to quit 
our raft and make to it. 

" The cold was so extremely severe, that Mr. Gist had all 
his fingers, and some of his toes frozen ; and the water was 
shut up so hard, that we found no difficulty in getting off the 
island on the ice, in the morning, and went to Mr. Frazier's. 
We met here with twentv warriors, who were going to the 
southward to war ; but coming to a place on the head of the 
Great Kanawa, where they found seven people killed and 
scalped, (all but one woman with very light hair,) they 
turned about and ran back, for fear the inhabitants should 
rise and take them as the authors of the murder. They report 
that the bodies were lying about the house, and some of them 
much torn and eaten by the hogs. By the marks which were 
left, they say they were French Indians of the Ottowav na- 
tion, &.C., who did it. 

" From the first day of December to the fifteenth, there was 
but one day on which it did not rain or snow incessantly ; and 
throughout the whole journey, we met with nothing but one 
continued series of cold, wet weather, which occasioned 
very uncomfortable lodgings, especially after we had quitted 
our tent, which was some screen from the inclemency of it." 

Washington commenced this journey from Williamsburg, 
on the 31st of October, 1753, and returned on the I6th of 
January, 1754, when he received the thanks of his govern- 
ment, and the applause of the people. 



CHAPTER II. 

The British Ministry instructs the Virginians to expel the French from the Ohio 
Territory— Young Washington's first Campaign— Marches to the Great Meadows 
— Surprises and takes a Detachment of French ami Indians — Erects a Stockade — 
Attacked by Count de Villier — Brave Defence against Superior Numbers — Accepts 
honourable Terms of Capitulation— Receives the Thanks of the Legislature. 

The French having shown no disposition to relinquish the 
territory which they claimed by right of discovery, the British 

19 N 



146 THE AKMY AND NAVY. [1754. 



ministry instructed the inhabitants of Virginia to expel their 
unwelcome neighbours from the Ohio Territory by the force 
of arms. 

A regiment of three hundred men was raised, which was 
joined by an independent company from South Carolina, and 
Washington, who had been appointed one of the Adjutants- 
General of Virginia, with the rank of Major, at the age of 
nineteen years, to train the militia for actual service, was now, 
in the twenty-third year of his age, raised to the rank of 
Colonel, and intrusted with the command of this little army. 

In April, 1754, Washington marched for the Great Meadows, 
in the disputed territories, to which he hastened to protect 
the people, and to preserve tlie good will of the friendly In- 
dians, who might otherwise be influenced by the enemy. 

On his arrival he was informed by some friendly Indians 
that the French were engaged in completing a fortification 
at the confluence of the Alleghany and Monongahela rivers, 
and that a detachment of French and Indians from that sta- 
tion had encamped within a few miles of the Great Meadows. 
The friendly Indians serving as guides, Washington marched 
during a dark and rainy night, surrounded, surprised, fired, 
and rushed upon the enemy about day-break, who immediately 
surrendered. One of the enemy was killed, and one ran 
away. The former was their commander, Jumoville, and the 
other will excuse us for not recording his name, which, by 
some singular negligence, was not made immortal in a bulletin; 
which, however, was better than to have a bullet-in his body ; 
at least this appears to have been his philosophy. 

If some mischievous individual should feel inclined to pro- 
nounce this daring enterprise of young Washington, where 
only one man was killed, a mere Quixotic adventure, or a 
Hudibrastic exploit, or compare it with a battle in the latter 
work, where only one man (the fiddler) is wounded in his 
wooden leg and his fiddle, let it be remembered, that it is 
easier to kill a bear than to catch one alive. Or, if you prefer 
the figure, take a herd of buffaloes for the bear. Before we 
conclude our work we may be able to show that Washington 
was famous for catching armies alive ! 



1754.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 147 



After erecting a small stockade or military fence, made 
with stakes or posts fastened in the earth, which was subse- 
quently called fort Necessity, the troops proceeded towards 
fort Du Quesne, with something less than four hundred men, 
to take that place : but after marching about thirteen miles, 
they were told by their Indian friends, in their peculiar and 
figurative language, that the enemy was coming as thick as 
the wild pigeons of the woods, which in those days were ex- 
ceedingly numerous in " pigeon time." Washington imme- 
diately retreated to his little fort, on which Count de Villier, 
with about 1100 men, French and Indians, soon made a most 
furious attack from behind the trees aftd high grass, which 
was resisted with a bravery and skill that elicited the astonish- 
ment and military admiration of the French. 

A handful of young men, who had never found much use 
for razor-strops, who had just relinquished their hold on their 
mothers' apron strings, surrounded by three times their num- 
ber of experienced French warriors, and desperate savages, 
whose brutal delight is war, plunder, and torture of their 
captives ; far away from their homes, their relations, and the 
aid of their countrymen ; in a vast wilderness, which to them 
must have appeared at once a desert and a grave, not only 
sustain the shock from morning at ten o'clock until dark, by 
fighting in the fort, but also on the outside, in a ditch nearly 
filled with mud and water, where Washington himself con- 
tinued all day. Their little volcano was in a continuous state 
of eruption. The wild animals fled in the utmost consternation, 
then stopped, looked dismayed, and ran again. The wild bird, 
with a scream, forsook its nest and rushed through the thicket ; 
then returning towards its young, is seized with alarm and 
flies again ; and all are marvelling at the dreadful tumult that 
shakes their native woods. 

After this long and desperate conflict, in which about fifty- 
eight of the Virginia regiment were killed and wounded, with 
a number of the Independents, and about two hundred of the 
enemy, a fearful proportion of their whole number, on both 
sides, the French commander offered the most honourable terms 
of capitulation, for the second time. Washington, aware that 



148 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1754. 



he must ultimately be overpowered by numbers, signed the 
articles, surrendered the fort, marched out with all the honours 
of war, kept his arms and baggage, marched to Virginia, 
received the thanks of the legislature for himself and the 
officers under his command, three hundred pistoles for his 
soldiers, and shouts of applause from his countrymen. 



CHAPTER III. 

British Ministry recommend a Union of the Colonies, and to make a Treaty with 
the " Five Nations" — Convention at Albany — Treaty with the Indians — Plan of 
Uniting the Colonies — Rejected — British Ministry propose another Plan — Also 
rejected — Parliament resolves to carry on the War with British Troops, aided by 
the Colonists — General Braddock despatched — Plan of Campaign — Expedition 
against French Forts in Nova Scotia — Expedition against Fort Du Quesne — Brad- 
dock's Defeat and Death — Washington's Bravery and extraordinary Escape — 
Dunbar's Flight — Dreadful Murders and Outrages of the Indians — Washington 
endeavours to arrest them — Governor Shirley's Expedition — General William 
Johnson's Expedition. 

The British ministry perceiving that more energetic 
measures would be necessary, recommended to the colonies 
to unite their strength for the common defence, and to make 
a treaty with the " Five Nations." 

In accordance with this recommendation, through the Earl 
of Holderness, Secretary of State to the colonial governors, 
a convention of delegates from Massachusetts, New Hamp- 
shire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Mary- 
land, with the lieutenant-governor and council of New York, 
assembled at Albany, where they effected a treaty with the 
Five Nations, and adopted a plan for uniting the colonies on 
the 4th of July, 1754, the day on which Washington surren- 
dered fort Necessity. 

The plan of union of the colonies was to form a general 
assembly of delegates from all the colonies, with a governor- 
general appointed by the crown, who would not only have 
a negative voice on the acts of the council, but power to 
raise money and troops in the colonies, lay duties, regulate 
trade, &c. 



1754-5.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 149 



This proposed union was objected to by the provincial 
assemblies and the British government. By the former, 
hi;cause it conferred too much power on the king, and by the 
latter, on the ground that such a union of the people might 
endanger the supremacy of the mother country. Indeed the 
fears of both parties were well founded ; for the British 
government soon after claimed and urged the power of taxing 
the colonies, and the provincial assemblies declared that if a 
union of the colonies would be effected they could defer\d tJtem- 
selves against the enemy without any assistance of England. 
Such an assertion might indeed startle the king on his throne; 
for if the united colonists had no fear of so powerful an enemy 
as the French, at their doors, they had no reason to dread 
the roar of the British lion at a distance. 

The British ministry now proposed another plan, by which 
they would enjoy all the benefits resulting from victory with- 
out bearing any of the expenses. They wished to unite the 
governors with one or two of their council into a convention, 
who should meet and adopt measures to carry on the war, 
with the privilege of drawing upon the British treasury for 
the necessary sums. This scheme met with universal dis- 
approbation among the colonists, as it contained a provision 
that Parliament would undertake to repay the expenses of 
the war by imposing a general tax upon the colonies. As the 
colonies were not represented in the British Parliament, this 
proceeding would at once lead to dependence and slavery, 
and expose them to the stupid insolence, the cruel oppression, 
and wide-spread impositions of king's collectors. 

The British Parliament, afraid at this critical period to 
throw any more such fire-brands among the colonists, which 
might arouse their just indignation, determined to relinquish 
the subject of taxation for the present, and to carry on the 
war with British troops, aided by occasional reinforcements 
from the colonies. 

Early in the spring of 1755, one of the most important 
campaigns was commenced that had ever occurred in Ame- 
rica. Both nations sent reinforcements from Europe, Ger»- 
eral Braddock was despatched from Ireland to America at 



150 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1755. 



the head of two regiments of infantry, commanded by Sir 
Peter Halket and Colonel Dunbar, and in April he convened 
the colonial governors, in Virginia, to arrange a plan for the 
ensuing campaign. Three expeditions were planned. The 
first, commanded by Braddock himself, was to march against 
fort Du Quesne ; the second against forts Niagara and Fron- 
tinac, under the command of Governor Shirley of Massachu- 
setts; and the third, commanded by General William Johnson, 
a member of the New York council, was to march against 
Crown Point with a body of militia raised in New England 
and New York. 

While the convention of governors was sitting in Virginia, 
another expedition, consisting of 3000 militia of Massachu- 
setts, under Lieutenant-colonel Monckton, sailed from Boston 
on the 20th May, against the French forts in Nova Scotia. 
They arrived at Chignecto, on the Bay of Fundy, on the 11th 
of June, and being joined by 300 British troops, with a small 
train of artillery, they proceeded against, invested, and took 
fort Beau Sejour, after a hot siege of four days, and its name 
was changed to fort Cumberland. Monckton, proceeding 
further into the country, took the other French forts, dis- 
armed the inhabitants, and to prevent them from joining the 
French in Canada, expelled them from the province, and 
dispersed them throughout the colonies ! This was a dreadful 
fate : to become roving vagabonds in the enemy's country, 
where a diiferent language was spoken from their own, ren- 
dering them unable to engage in any business to advantage, 
while the strong prejudices of all around them made their 
situation peculiarly distressing. A boundary, however, be- 
tween the English and the French possessions in Nova Scotia, 
which had occasioned many disputes, was by this means 
quickly and permanently settled, and the British were pos- 
sessed of the whole of Nova Scotia, according to their own 
definition of its boundaries. 

As soon as the convention of governors was dissolved, 
General Braddock commenced his march from Virginia, in 
June, with his two British regiments of infantry and a few 
corps of provincial militia, amounting in all to 2200 men. 



1755.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 151 



On his arrival at fort Cumberland, in the western part of 
Virginia, the army was detained, waiting for some of the 
wagons, horses, and provisions. 

The French were yet weak on the Ohio, but they daily 
expected reinforcements. It was determined, therefore, that 
1200 of the best soldiers should be selected, and ten pieces of 
cannon ; and this force, commanded by Braddock in person, 
was to advance with the utmost expedition to fort Du Quesne. 
Colonel Dunbar and Major Chapman, with the remainder of 
the troops, and the heavy baggage, to follow more slowly. 

The select troops, though their carriages and ammunition 
wagons were strongly horsed, did not make the rapid progress 
that was anticipated, for, said Colonel Washington, in a letter 
written during the march, to his brother, " I found that in- 
stead of pushing on with vigour, without regarding a little 
rough road, they were halting to level every mole-hill, and to 
erect bridges over every brook." At the end of four days 
they were only nineteen miles from the Little Meadows, 
where they had separated from the remainder of the army. 

On the 8th of July, Braddock reached the Monongahela, 
being then about sixty miles in advance of Colonel Dunbar, 
and about twelve from fort Du Quesne. He had been ad- 
vised to proceed with caution, to guard against ambushes, 
before he came to this country, and his officers now reasoned 
with him again. Washington, one of his aids, particularly 
represented to him what kind of enemy he had to deal with ; 
that, instead of coming forward to a fair contest, they would 
conceal themselves behind rocks and trees, from which they 
could fire with their rifles in comparative safety. He con- 
cluded by offering to place himself at the head of the Virginia 
riflemen, to be prepared to fight the enemy in their own way 
if necessary, or at least, by scouring the woods, guard the 
army against surprise. Haughty and self-confident, Brad- 
dock treated this salutary advice with contempt ; cursed the 
young " buckskiyi^' who would presume to teach a British 
officer how to fight, and ordered him and his soldiers to the 
rear of the British troops. 



152 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1755. 

The conduct of Braddock resembled the recklessness of the 
madman, rather than that of a man of genuine courage. 

On the 9th day of July, when about seven miles from the 
fort, he was suddenly attacked by a body of French and 
Indians, estimated at about 900. 

The appalling war-whoop of the savages is now heard 
through the woods ; the messengers of death come in showers 
upon the British ; the van-guard falls back upon the main 
army ; the troops are ordered to form and advance in columns 
through the woods ! Again the enemy pour upon ihem a 
deadly and incessant fire from their hiding-places, secure from 
danger themselves. Officers and men are falling rapidly into 
the embraces of death, and the whole body is thrown into 
the utmost confusion. They are formed again by the obsti- 
nate commander, as if he desired them to become a more 
certain mark for a concealed foe. He sees his men fall in 
scores without the ability to defend themselves, or the most 
remote probability of future success in such a position; and 
yet, he compels them to stand as targets for the enemy, for a 
period of three hours, during which about 700 of the British 
were killed or wounded ; when his madness terminated in his 
own fall, after five horses had been shot under him. The 
officers mounted on horseback were sure marks for the enemy, 
and out of sixty-five, all were shot down except one, and that 
was George Washington. Two horses were killed under him, 
and four bullet-holes ornamented his military coat. 

" The foe came on, and few remain 
To strive, and those must strive in vain : 
For lack of further lives, to slake 
The thirst of vengeance now awake, 
With barbarous blows they gash the dead, 
And lop th' already lifeless head." 

After the fall of Braddock the remains of the army fled in 
disorder, and Washington, with his provincials, who had been 
held in such contempt before the battle, covered their retreat, 
and saved them from destruction. 

" I expected every moment," says an eye-witness, " to see 
Washington fall :" as his duty as aid exposed him to the most 



1755.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 153 

imminent danger during the engagement, and when left alone, 
he appeared to offer himself a willing sacrifice for the ill-fated 
fugitives. 

An old Indian marksman swore that Washington was not 
born to be shot, " for," said he, " I had seventeen fair fires at 
him with my rifle, and after all I could not bring him to the 
ground." 

In a sermon preached after Braddock's defeat, by the Rev. 
M. Davis, the following remarkable sentence occurs : " I beg 
leave to point the attention of the public to that heroic youth. 
Colonel George Washington, whom I cannot but hope Provi- 
dence has preserved /or some great service to this country. ^^ 

The flight of the British was precipitate. No pause was 
made until they met Dunbar's division, where Braddock, 
carried thither by Washington, died of his wounds. Here 
Dunbar's troops took the panic by contagion, and all fled to 
fort Cumberland, about one hundred and thirty miles from 
the field of death. In this situation their services might have 
been of great importance in defending the frontier, had they 
remained ; but trembling both at heart and knees, they ran, 
they flew to Philadelphia, under Colonel Dunbar. Having 
satisfied themselves that the enemy were not close to their 
heels, they resolved upon taking up their winter-quarters. It 
is true this was in August, but the Colonel, no doubt, consider- 
ably chilled by the late disaster, probably anticipated a very 
early winter. Washington, in speaking of the flight of the 
British troops, says, " In spite of every effort to the contrary, 
they broke, and ran as sheep before the hounds, leaving the 
artillery, ammunition, provisions, baggage, and in short every 
thing, a prey to the enemy ; and when we endeavoured to 
rally them, in hopes of regaining the ground, and what we 
had left upon it, it was with as little success as if we had 
attempted to have stopped the wild bears of the mountains." 

In the following lines Hesper shows the future to Columbus : 

" And now a friendly host from Albion's strand 
Arrives to aid her young colonial band. 
They join their force, and toward the falling day 
Impetuous Braddock leads their hasty way ; 

20 



154 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1755. 

O'er Alleghany heights, like streams of fire, 
The red flags wave, and glittering arms aspire 
To meet the savage hordes who there advance 
Their skulking files to join the arms of France. 

Where, old as earth, yet still unstain'd with blood, 
Monongahela roll'd his careless flood, 
Flank'd with hiis mantling groves the fountful hills 
Drain'd the vast region through his thousand rills, 
Lured o'er his lawns the buffalo herds, and spread 
For all his fowls his piscatory glade ; 
But now perceives, with hostile flags unfurl'd, 
A Gallic fortress awe the western world ; 
There Braddoek bends his march ; the troops within 
Behold their danger and the fire begin ; 
Forth bursting from the gates they rush amain, 
Front, flank, and charge the fast approaching train ; 
The batteries blaze, the leaden volleys pour. 
The vales, the streams, the solid mountains roar ; 
Clouds of convolving smoke the welkin spread, 
The champaign shrouding in sulphureous shade. 
Lost in the rocking thunder's loud career, 
No shouts nor groans invade the patriarch's ear ; 
Nor valorous feats are seen, nor flight nor fall, 
But one broad burst of darkness buries all, 
Till, chased by rising winds, the smoke withdrew. 
And the wide slaughter opened on his view. 
He saw the British leader borne afar. 
In dust and gore, beyond the wings of war ; 
And while delirious panic seized his host, 
Their flags, their arms in wild confusion toss'd, 
Bold in the midst a youthful warrior strode. 
And tower'd undaunted o'er the field of blood ; 
He checks the shameful rout, with vengeance burns, 
And the pale Britons brighten where he turns. 
So, when thick vapours veil the nightly sky. 
The starry hosts in half-seen lustre fly, 
Till Phosphor rises o'er the twinkling crowd. 
And gives new splendour through his parting cloud. 

Swift on a fiery steed the stripling rose, 
Form'd the light files to pierce the line of foes, 
Then waved his gleamy sword that flash'd the day, 
And through the Gallic legions hew'd his way : 
His troops press forward like a loose broke flood, 
Sweep ranks away and smear their paths in blood ; 



1755.] WARLIKE OPERATIONS AT SEA. 155 



The hovering foes pursue the combat far, 
And shower their balls along the flying war, 
When the new leader turns his single force. 
Points the flight forward, speeds his backward course : 
The French, recoiling, lialf thoir victory yield, 
And the glad Britons quit the fatal field," 

Thus terminated one of the most disastrous campaigns on 
the records of history, not only from its immediate conse- 
quences, but, by inflaming the passions of a rapacious and 
vindictive foe, with a victory too easily won. and extensive 
plunder too readily obtained, they afterwards spread terror, 
dismay, and death over the unprotected colonies, Virginia 
and Pennsylvania, accompanied by acts of cruelty, outrage, 
and fiendish torture, that shock our nature and wound our 
moral dignity, to think that man should ever fall so low. 

On the frontier, the French and Indians murdered and 
captured men, women and children, burning their houses and 
destroying their crops, until the settlements, in some districts, 
were entirely broken up. Those who escaped from the bar- 
barous foe, instead of attempting to defend themselves, fled 
into the lower country, spreading big-eyed alarm, open- 
mouthed terror, and magnified dangers in their progress. 

Washington, at this critical period, was called upon to 
defend the frontier ; but owing to the want of energy and 
vigour in the proceedings of the assembly of Virginia, and the 
universal panic among the people, the means under his con- 
trol were totally inadequate to the task. He represented to 
the assembly, that to cover so extensive a frontier, it would 
be necessary to increase the number of regulars to two thou- 
sand, men. He, however, preferred another plan, which was 
to obtain artillery and engineers, or assistance from the 
mother country, or the other colonies, to drive the enemy 
from fort Du Quesne. 

When the enemy had glutted their vengeance, they re- 
crossed the Alleghany mountains, from which they returned 
the following April (17.56), to renew their depredations and 
murders, in small skulking parties, who could seldom be found 
until some horrid deed was committed. This fully demon- 



156 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1755. 

strated the superiority of Washington's plan of raising a 
force sufficient to strike a blow at the heart of the enemy, by 
attacking their fort, instead of attempting to scratch or bite 
his extremities. 

In speaking of the dreadful calamities among the western 
inhabitants, Washington, in a letter to the lieutenant-gover- 
nor, says : " I see their situation, I know their danger, and 
participate their sufferings, without having it in my power 
to give them further relief than uncertain promises. In short, 
I see inevitable destruction in so clear a light, that, unless 
vigorous measures are taken by the assembly, and speedy 
assistance sent from below, the poor inhabitants now in forts 
must unavoidably fall, while the remainder are flying before 
the barbarous foe. In fine, the melancholy situation of the 
people, the little prospect of assistance, the gross and scan- 
dalpus abuses cast upon the officers in general, which is re- 
flecting on me in particular, for suffering misconduct of such 
extraordinary kind, and the distant prospect, if any, of gain- 
ing reputation in the service, cause me to lament the hour 
that gave me a commission, and would induce me, at any 
other time than this of imminent danger, to resign, without 
one hesitating moment, a command from which I never ex- 
pect to reap either honour or benefit, but, on the contrary, 
have almost an absolute certainty of incurring displeasure 
below, while the murder of helpless families may be laid to 
my account here. 

"The supplicating tears of the women, and moving petitions 
of the men melt me with such deadly sorrow, that I solemnly 
declare, if I know my own mind, I could offer myself a will- 
ing sacrifice to the butchering enemy, provided that would 
contribute to the people's ease." 

We will now turn away from this melancholy scene before 
our faces become too much elongated, and inquire after Gov- 
ernor Shirley's expedition against the forts Niagara and 
Frontinac, and General William Johnson's against Crown 
Point. 

And now, ye shades of the illustrious dead, who have 
wielded the style or the pen in commemoration of the deeds 



1755.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 157 

of heroes, grant us your liberality if we fail to record the 
wonderful deeds of his excellency with that dignity which 
this august subject demands, and that philosophy to which so 
prolific a lesson should never fail to direct us ! The magni- 
ficent conceptions of Homer; the refined majesty of Virgil ; 
the sweetness and elegance of Horace ; the bold and sublime 
eftusions of Milton ; the graceful and easy style of Addisoii ; 
the tenderness and sublimity of Ossian; and the natu»o' 
elegance of Goldsmith, all combined, might do the subject 
justice ! Now, reader, if you find fault w^ith this string of 
notions on what you may consider too grave a subject, let 
me tell you, as a friend, before it is too late, that many a 
clever fellow^ has died of the hlues, for the want of a little 
risibility under his waistcoat to shake them out at the sides. 
Cheer up, cheer up, there is no use to make too long a face ; 
though we must confess, matters look rather gloomy just now ; 
but go to work merrily (I mean reading, not fighting), instead 
of suffering half your energies to be cramped with awful 
forebodings nxvApoltic nightmares. Remember that Hanni- 
bal's whole army laughed — officers and all — ^just before the 
battle of Cannae, at a good-humoui'ed remark of their chief, 
and the result of that battle is well known. When Alexander 
besieged Nyssa, the Macedonians would not advance on ac- 
count of the depth of the river, until their leader said, " What 
a wretch am I that I did not learn to swim," and was going 
to ford it with his shield in his hand. The effect was electrical, 
and this laughing army, after making one assault, obtained 
offers of capitulation. When the fate of the American army 
seemed to depend upon making a retreat from the encamp- 
ment at Trenton, Washington laughed at an odd remark of 
old General Scott, who was about to defend the most import- 
ant and dangerous post. Scott, who thought Washington 
was gone, said to his men, that they had been shooting too 
high. " For that reason, boys, whenever you see them fellows 
first begin to put their feet on this bridge, do you shin 'e/n.^' 
The bridge was defended, and the army preserved. There 
are two morals in this digression. The first is, always keep 
yourself in a good humour by trying to keep others so. The 



158 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1755. 



second is, that warriors engaged in a good cause, at least, 
should always be in good spirits ; and why should not we 
enjoy that luxury while recording, or reflecting on some of the 
deeds, at least, of these brave and merry fellows 1 But to 
resume. 

The Governor's Campaign. — Deeply impressed with his 
awful responsibility, he marched his army of 2500 men to 
Oswego, on Lake Ontario ; but the winter being too far ad- 
vanced, and the provisions scarce, he marched them back 
again to Albany, and the succeeding spring he was superseded 
by General Abercrombie, who was appointed to command 
until the arrival of Loudon. This was the beginning, middle, 
and end of Governor Shirley's campaign. We do not intend 
to reflect on the conduct of his excellency : prudence may 
have been the better part of valour under existing circum- 
stances, especially as the intelligence of Braddock's defeat 
had spread consternation through the army, occasioning many 
desertions. 

This teaches, or ought to teach, an important lesson to 
those officers who esteem daring intrepidity more, when alone, 
than if tempered with prudence. Not only did Braddock lose 
his own army, but damped the spirit of enterprise, for a time, 
throughout the colonies. History, both ancient and modern, 
is full of such lessons. Compare the cool, calculating prudence 
of Fabius Maximus and George Washington, with the head- 
long impetuosity of C. Terentius Varro and Braddock, and 
our position is sufficiently illustrated. 

The expedition against Crown Point, led by General Wil- 
liam Johnson, arrived at the south end of Lake George the 
latter part of August, 1755, where he received intelligence 
that the enemy, numbering 2000, had landed at Southbay, 
now Whitehall, under the command of Baron Dieskau, from 
whence they were marching to fort Edward, to destroy the 
;' military stores and provisions of the British. 

On the morning of September Sth, a detachment of 1200 
men, commanded by Colonel Ephraim Williams, was sent 
against him. Regardless of the advice of Hendrick, the Indian 
chief, Williams neglected to scour the field by a flank-guard. 



1755.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 159 

Having proceeded about four miles, he was surprised by the 
Indians of Dieskau's army, who were lying in ambush for him. 
A deadly fire was poured in upon both his flanks. After a 
dreadful slaughter, during which General Williams himself, 
and Hendrick, the renowned Mohawk chief, were killed, the 
detachment retreated. They came running into the camp 
like a flock of sheep, hotly pursued by the French, who might 
have carried the camp if they had taken advantage of the 
great confusion ; but making a pause, the English recovered 
from the disorder and alarm, and were soon prepared to 
receive the enemy. Dieskau now made a desperate attack, 
but the English, who were posted behind fallen trees, defended 
on each side by a woody swamp, gave them such a warm 
reception, with their cannon and musketry, that their ranks 
were thrown into disorder. The Canadian militia and Indians 
fled into the woods, and the whole army was terribly defeated. 
A scouting party had, at the same time, taken the enemy's 
baggage ; and when the retreating army came up, they made 
an attack upon it from behind the trees. Panic-stricken by 
the late defeat and this sudden attack, the soldiers threw 
down their accoutrements, and were off" for the lakes in the 
utmost confusion. 

The French loss, in killed and wounded, was about 1000. 
Dieskau himself was mortally wounded and taken prisoner. 
He had received a wound in the leg, which rendering him 
incapable to retreat with the army, he was found by an Eng- 
lish soldier seated on a stump. Intending to try bribery to 
save his life, he commenced feeling for his watch, but the 
soldier mistaking his intention, and suspecting that he was 
searching for his pistol, levelled his gun and shot the Baron 
through the hips. He was now carried to the English camp, 
where every attention was bestowed upon him. He was 
next taken to Albany and New York. The injury gradually 
impaired his health, and he died in consequence of it, at 
Surene, in France. He was a man of talents, honour, and 
refinement, and the loss of so distinguished an oflScer was 
severely felt by the French. The English loss was only 
about 200. 



160 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1756. 



General Johnson was wounded early in the action, and 
General Lyman did the fighting, for which Johnson, who 
makes no mention of him, received a baronetcy, and Parlia- 
ment voted him 5000 pounds sterling. Satisfied with this 
achievement, he rested inactive the remainder of the season, 
and failed to effect the object of his expedition. This victory, 
however, retrieved the honour of the English arms, and 
restored confidence among the people. Thus terminated a 
campaign, which, for want of energy in council to devise, and 
vigour in the field to execute, effected nothing but a great 
destruction of life, and the infliction of all the accumulated 
horrors of savage and civilized warfare upon a bleeding 
community, and the two nations remained in statu quo ante 
bellum. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Formal Declaration of War between France and England — Meeting of Provin- 
cial Governors — Plan of Campaign — Quarrel among the Officers — Marquis de 
Montcalm takes and destroys Fort Oswego — Lord Loudon at the Head of Affairs. 

Although hostilities had been carried on for several years, 
no formal declaration of war was made by England against 
France, until June 9, 1756. France declared war against 
England soon after. 

The plan for the campaign of 1756 was nearly the same 
as that for 1755 ; and the result was similar. The provincial 
governors met at New York, and it was determined that an 
army of 10,000 men should be raised, and marched against 
Crown Point; 6000 for Niagara; and 3000 for fort Du 
Quesne. While the officers were quarrelling among them- 
selves about a resolution, placing the British officers over the 
provincials of the same rank ; and about the expediency of 
attacking fort Niagara, or Du Quesne, the Marquis de Mont- 
calm, the able and enterprising successor of Dieskau, decided 
the matter for them, by showing that they were to do neither. 
This oflficer, with an army of about 8000 regulars, Canadians 



1756-7.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 161 

and Indians, invested the fort at Oswego, on the south side of 
Lake Ontario. His artillery played so successfully upon the 
fort, that in a few days it was taken and destroyed. This 
was one of the most important English posts held in America. 
The capture of it opened to the enemy both lake Erie and 
lake Ontario, together with the country of the Five Nations. 
1600 men were taken prisoners; and 120 pieces of cannon, 
fourteen mortars, several sloops of war, and 200 boats, fell 
into the hands of the victors. 

The Earl of Loudon, now at the head of affairs in America, 
arrived at Albany and took his station. Receiving intelligence 
of the destruction of the fort at Oswego, he recalled General 
Winslow of Massachusetts, who was on his march towards 
Crown Point, and ordered him to fortify his own camp. All 
offensive operations being relinquished, the garrisons were 
filled with British troops, and nearly all the provincial forces 
were sent home. Here ends the second lesson to the British 
Parliament. The expedition against Niagara was not com- 
menced, and that against Du Quesne almost forgotten. 
Whether Lord Loudon was governed in his decisions, or 
rather indecisions, by dreams and omens, by whim and ca- 
price ; or by taking the advice of every body, in regular 
order ; he was certainly not the man to cope with Montcalm. 



CHAPTER V. 

Council at Boston — Eflbrts of the British Parliament — Expedition against I/ouis- 
burg — Siege of Fort William Henry — Horrible Massacre by the Savages — Burning 
of the Fort. 

At the commencement of 1757 a council was held at Boston, 
composed of Lord Loudon and the governors of the New 
England provinces and of Nova Scotia. Here his lordship 
proposed that New England should raise 4000 men, and New 
York and New Jersey shou4d raise a proportionate number. 
In the meantime, the British Parliament had made prepara- 
tion to prosecute the war. In July, 1757, about 6000 troops 

arrived at Halifax, on their way to effect the reduction of 
_ __ 



162 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1757. 



Louisburg, (at least, they thought so,) on the island of Cape 
Breton. The colonists had raised troops destined for the re- 
duction of Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; but they now 
learned, to their astonishment and regret, that their Protean 
commander-in-chief had changed his mind, and that now, the 
reduction of Louisburg was the one grand object in contem- 
plation. The colonists were obliged to obey, and Loudon 
proceeded to join the British armament at Halifax. 

His lordship appears to have been one of those unlucky 
fellows who are always just in time to be too late. The 
French received very large reinforcements, both of land and 
naval forces, from France, before Loudon was ready to sail, 
and deeming it rather a dangerous experiment to proceed, 
he abandoned the expedition and returned to New York. 

During the absence of the principal part of the British 
army, the Marquis de Montcalm conceived the design of 
taking the forts on lake George. He advanced with an 
army of about 9000 men, and laid siege to fort William 
Henry, situated on the north side of the lake. The gar- 
rison consisted of 3000 men, under the command of Colonel 
Monro, who made a most gallant resistance for six days, 
keeping the enemy at bay, while he sent to General Webb, 
apprising him of his situation, and asking his aid. Webb 
was at fort Edward, only four miles distant, with an 
army of 4000 men. Whether the General thought of the 
lead colic, or had a peculiar aversion to villanous salt- 
petre, (for men do sometimes get an unaccountable and pe- 
culiar aversion to being shot,) or whether he was governed 
in his conduct by motives of a prudential character, is worthy 
our consideration. It is certain, his aid was withheld with- 
out any apparent excuse for his heartless indifference to the 
perilous situation of his brethren in arms, who were obliged 
to surrender. They claimed and obtained at least the pro- 
mise of an honourable capitulation, and a pledge of protec- 
tion from Montcalm, against the Indians under his command. 
But no sooner had they marched out of the fort and deposited 
their arms, than the Indians were permitted to enter their 
lines, to commence the work of plunder, cruelty and death. 



1757.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 163 



The defenceless soldiers were attacked with fiendish fury by 
the savages, who, while butchering and scalping their victims, 
seemed to delight in their yells and groans, and frantic shrieks 
of anguish and despair. This horrid scene continued until 
1500 were killed or carried captives into the wilderness. 
This has fixed a dark spot upon the character of Montcalm, 
which will always haunt the history of his achievements like 
some hideous monster, grinning awfully over a victory of the 
heart of the valiant. Attempts have been made to wipe 
away the curse, but every age and country, like an immense 
jury, will try and condemn his conduct again. It has been 
said that he could not restrain the ferocity of the savages ; 
but could he not make the attempt ? Could not 7000 men 
restrain 2000 ? Could not Montcalm provide the stipulated 
guard which Monro begged and implored him in vain to do, 
to save his brave companions ? With these facts before us, 
we will not, we cannot listen to the sophistical arguments of 
the defenders of guilt. 

Now draw the curtain aside and look for yourself at a scene 
that makes humanity bleed at every pore. It is the fort and 
its vicinity the day after the massacre. The fort is a heap 
of smoking ruins ; the buildings are still burnmg ; here are 
arms, hands, and many other fragments of the human body 
broiling in the fire ! there are heaps of dead bodies all around 
you with the scalps torn off. But now think of the deep 
horrors and voiceless woe of those who are tortured in cap- 
tivity ! Imagine among them a father, a brother, or a friend. 
Imagine yourself a victim of torture, and then I ask you what 
think you of Montcalm ? What think you of Webb ? Would 
you be leaning to the side of mercy by shielding them from 
indignation and scorn ? Or would you rather defend the 
officers than the soldiers 1 The common soldier has rights 
as well as his superiors. He has a heart to feel, a hand to 
strike, and an arm to save. His influence, his power, in the 
aggregate, must be respected, and we will defend his rights 
against his superiors, whether friend or foe. 

While we are determined to guard with the most scrupu- 
lous care against wronging the memory of any man, we shall 



164 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1757. 

freely express our uncompromising detestation against the 
heartless deeds of such fiends incarnate, instead of extenuat- 
ing their guilt, as some historians have done. 

History is the monitor of the future, teaching by the expe- 
rience of the past faithfully delineated ; but if the inexcusable 
wholesale murders and unjustifiable barbarities, or even the 
cowardice or cold indifference of men to aid those they are 
bound by sacred duty, or solemn contract, to protect, are to 
be blotted from its pages, it fails in its legitimate object. 
The wretch who could look calmly on such a scene without 
lifting a hand to save, should be held in greater abhorrence 
than the midnight assassin. We are sometimes moved to 
tears at the recital of a single murder, but we too often read 
an account of the destruction of thousands, as a pleasing tale. 
We sympathize with the sufferings of individuals, but lose 
our better feelings in a multitude of sufferers. Through this 
strange inconsistency of our nature, the guilty often escape, 
or get only one blow when their guilt calls for ten. 

After the destruction of fort William Henry, the French 
had possession of lakes George and Champlain, and an unin- 
terrupted communication between Canada and the mouth of 
the Mississippi. This gave them an ascendancy over the 
Indians, and an undisturbed control over the country west of 
the Alleghany mountains, while the colonists were exposed, 
along the whole northern and western frontier, to the out- 
rages of the various tribes of Indians. 

" Through harvest fields the bloody myriads tread, 
Sack the lone village, strew the streets with dead ; 
The flames in spiry volumes round them rise, 
And shrieks and shouts redoubling rend the skies. 
Fair babes and matrons in their domes expire, 
Or, bursting frantic through the folding fire, 
They scream, fly, fall ; promiscuous rave along 
The yelling victors and the driven throng ; 
The streams run purple ; all the peopled shore 
Is wrapp'd in flames and trod with steps of gore ; — 
Till colours, gathering from the shorelands tar, 
Stretch their new standards and oppose the war, 
With muskets match the many-shatled bow, 
With loud artillery stun th' astonisli'd foe. 



1758.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 165 



Wlien, like a broken wave, the barbarous train 

Lead back the flight and scatter from the plain, 

Slay their weak captives, drop their shafts in haste, 

Forget their spoils and scour tlie trackless waste ; 

From wood to wood in wild confusion hurl'd, 

They hurry o'er the hills far throug-h the savage world." 



CHAPTER Vf. 

Change of the British Ministry — Pitt at the Head of the new Council — His Pop- 
ularity — Its Effect — Plan of Campaign — Admiral Boscawen sails from Halifax, 
under Brigadier- General Amherst — Siege of Louisburg — Plan against Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point under General Abercrombie — Lake George — Unsuccessful 
Attack on Ticonderoga — Abercrombie retreats — Dissatisfaction of the Provincials 
— Bradstreet takes Frontignac — General Forbes takes Fort Du Quesne. 

On the Termination of the last Campaign. 

On the infliction of this last, unkindest kick of all, the 
English lion started up with a roar. The English on both 
sides of the ocean were alarmed, and justly too, at their 
situation, and indignant at the loss of their brethren. The 
king changed his ministry, and placed the celebrated William 
Pitt at the head of the new councils. 

As a multitude of merry souls dance and skip under the 
magic influence of a violin, so a great statesman can often 
stir up and move a whole nation. Pitt speaks, and the thun- 
der of his eloquence arouses to arms ; the huge leviathans of 
war overshadow the sea. Armies move with the vigour of 
magic; transcendant talent is displayed in the field, and vic- 
tory shouts exultingly over the mighty results. The ill- 
contrived and badly executed campaigns were now at an 
end ; the tide of fortune, which had flowed to the French, 
loaded with riches, commenced its ebb with surprising ra- 
pidity ; the spirits of the colonists were revived ; the requi- 
sitions for raising a very large number of troops were 
promptly and cheerfully complied with ; and all was bustle 
and activity, inspired by the soul of Pitt. We pause here 
with astonishment, to contemplate the majesty of mind. 
That one man should be able to eflfect such changes and in- 



166 THE ARMY AHD NAVY. [1758. 



fuse such light into the dark and gloomy minds and hearts of 
men far beyond the sea ; to convey to others a part of his 
own immortal energies ; to speak with his own deeply-moved 
soul so strongly, that nations shake and monarchs tremble in 
their capitols, seems almost miraculous. 

Equally popular in both hemispheres, his letters to the 
colonial governors, assuring them of a large force from Eng- 
land, and calling on them for aid, probably far exceeded his 
most sanguine expectations. In May, Massachusetts had 
7000 troops, Connecticut 5000, and Hampshire 3000. Mas- 
sachusetts took the lead. The people of Boston supported 
taxes which took away two-thirds of the income on real 
estate : one-half of the effective men in the province were on 
some military duty ; and the transports constructed to carry 
the troops to Halifax were ready to sail, in fourteen days 
from the time of the undertaking. The British fleets block- 
aded or captured the French armaments, cutting off their 
reinforcements, while Admiral Boscawen was despatched to 
Halifax with a formidable squadron of ships, and an army of 
about 12,000 men. Lord Loudon was superseded by General 
Abercrombie, who was now placed at the head of an army 
of 50,000 men, the largest army that ever, in its march, 
shook the earth in America. 

It was resolved that three points of attack should be the 
objects of this campaign. The first expedition was to be 
directed against Louisburg, the capitol of Cape Breton ; the 
second against Ticonderoga and Crown Point ; and the third 
against fort Du Quesne. 

On the 28th of May, Admiral Boscawen sailed from Hali- 
fax with a fleet of twenty ships of the line and eighteen 
frigates, and 14,000 men, under the command of Brigadier- 
General Amherst, and arrived before Louisburg on the 2d of 
June. The Chevalier de Drucourt, a man of many parts, 
commanded the garrison, composed of 2500 regulars and 600 
militia. The French having secured the harbour with ships, 
some of which were sunk across the mouth of the basin, the 
English were obliged to land at some distance from the town. 
As the surf was so great that no boat could live near shore. 



1758.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 167 

a landing could not be effected for six days. On the 8th, 
while the swell was still very great, they approached the 
shore under the fire of five frigates. The enemy on shore 
reserved their fire until the English were near them, when 
their musketry and cannon were opened upon them with 
great spirit. Some of their boats were upset, others dashed 
into fragments without much regard for the contents; but 
General James Wolfe, afterwards the hero of the heights of 
Abraham, was there, and he pushed forward to the shore- 
Amherst was the shield and Wolfe the sword — the one cau- 
tious, the other young and enthusiastic. The artillery and 
stores were dragged on shore June 8th, and General Wolfe, 
next in command to General Amherst, was detached with 
2000 men to take a post at Lighthouse Point, an eminence 
which in a measure commands the ships in the harbour and 
the fortifications in the town, and from which the enemy 
might be greatly annoyed. The enemy had five ships of the 
line and a few frigates in the harbour, and as the English 
troops approached, the guns on these vessels were brought to 
bear upon them. On the approach of Wolfe towards Light- 
house Point, the French who occupied that post 



-" retreated, as the phrase is, when 



Men rim away rather than go through 
Destruction's jaws." 

We presume, however, that these men 

" never ran away, except when running 



Was nothing but a valorous kind of cunning." 

This we leave with their own conscience, which is nothing 
but our own opinion of our own actions, which shows the 
importance of good instructions, when the mental twig is bent. 

This fighting is a bloody business, at best, and we would 
rather continue to moralize, than besiege cities and towns in 
person. Even when the imagination leads us to the fortifica- 
tions of the enemy, the unmusical roar of artillery and mus- 
ketry ; the fire and smoke on the ramparts and from the em- 
brasures, and the shrieks and groans of our wounded and 



168 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



[1758. 



dying fellow-soldiers, but ill comport with our notions of a 
long life of domestic joys and comforts. 

But, I say, Wolfe took the post, and erected several strong 
batteries, while approaches were made on the opposite side 
of the town, and the siege was commenced in earnest. 

A very heavy fire is opened and kept up against the town 
and the ships in the harbour. With the flashing fire comes 
the report of artillery, like peals of thunder. The earth 
trembles, and some of the men tremble ; some with anxiety, 
some with rage, and some with fear. The bombs, like me- 
teors, are vaulting through the sky, then falling to the earth, 
or on the ships, with terrible explosion, hurl their fragments 
through the ranks of the enemy with appalling effect ; then 
communicating their fire to a vessel, the flames spread with 
fearful rapidity, and the prodigious conflagration drives the 
soldiers away like rats escaping from a falling temple. The 
fire reaches the magazine ! A blaze as from a volcano bursts 
forth, and then the shock of the dreadful explosion terrifies 
the besiegers and the besieged. Masts and yards are hurled 
through the sky, and after a long interval fall in fragments 
over the earth and sea. The fire is communicated, and two 
other ships share the same fate. The siege progresses ; some 
parts of the town are already consumed, and some others 
battered down. The English Admiral sent 600 men under 
two young captains, Laforey and Balfour, into the harbour, 
to destroy or bring off* the remaining ships. In the night, 
between the 25th and 26th, they passed through a galling 
fire of cannon and musketry of the enemy, and took the re- 
maining ships. One being aground, was burnt, and the 
other was triumphantly towed out of the basin. This put 
the English in full possession of the harbour ; and several 
breaches having been made in the enemy's works, the governor, 
deeming the place no longer tenable, offered to capitulate. 

The garrison were required to surrender as prisoners of 
war, and although these humiliating terms were at first re- 
jected, they were afterwards, from necessity, acceded to. 
The spoils of victory were 221 pieces of cannon, and eighteen 
mortars, with large quantities of ammunition. The English 



1758.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 169k 



now took possession of Cape Breton, and also the Island 
Royal, St. John's, and their dependencies. The inhabitants 
of Cape Breton were taken to France in English ships ; but 
the military men, consisting of the garrison, sea-officers, 
sailors, and marines, amounting to about 6000, were taken 
prisoners of war to England. This was the severest blow 
that France received since the commencement of the war, 
as it placed the whole coast, from the St. Lawrence to Nova 
Scotia, in the possession of the English, and in a great mea- 
sure cut off the French communication with Canada. 

The army destined to execute the plan against Ticonderoga 
and Crown Point, commanded by General Abercrombie, 
consisting of upwards of 15,000 men, with a formidable train 
of artillery, was to rendezvous at Albany. The reduction of 
these points was a favourite object of the northern colonies, 
exposed to French and Indian incursions; and the most her- 
culean exertions were made to insure its success. About 
two-thirds of this army were colonists. In the beginning of 
July they arrived at Lake George, and on the 5th the Gen- 
eral was ready to embark his troops on board of 900 batteaux 
and 125 whale-boats, besides a number of rafts, on which 
cannon were mounted, to cover the landing of the troops. 

And now, reader, if you have no imagination we pity you, 
for then all such recitals will have no more effect on you than 
if you were told that 15,000 blackbirds crossed the lake, all 
in one flock. But, no doubt, you have a most vivid imagina- 
tion, by which you now plainly see the remarkable clear 
water of this truly romantic lake ; the bold and jutting shore ; 
and the beautiful, small green islands, full of wild flowers to 
the edge of the water, looking, for all the world, like little 
hills swimming across the lake with a load of flowers on their 
backs. The deer stand high up on the projecting rock, and 
look down with amazement on the extended crowd, then 
bound away into the thick woods. The brave eagle, the 
bird of Washington, not quite ready to -perch on the Ameri- 
can standards, soars majestically in the blue vault of heaven ; 
then rushing down, bathes his glossy wings in the trembling 
waters of the lake. A late and eminent writer, in speaking 

22 y ~ 



170 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1758. 

of this lake, says that " light and shade are here not only far 
more diversified, but are much more obvious, intense, and 
flowing, than in smooth, open countries. Every thing, whether 
on the land or water, was here affected by the changes of the 
day ; and the eye, without forecast, found itself, however 
disposed on ordinary occasions to inattention, instinctively 
engaged, and fastened with emotions approximating to rap- 
ture. The shadows of the mountains, particularly on the 
west, floating slowly over the bosom of the lake, and then 
softly ascending that of the mountains on the east, presented 
to us, in a wide expanse, the uncommon and most pleasing 
image of one vast range of mountains, slowly moving up the 
ascent of another. 

" While we were returning from Ticonderoga, we were 
presented with a prospect superior to any which I ever 
beheld. An opening lay before us, between the mountains 
on the west and those on the east, gilded by the departing 
sunbeams. The lake, alternately glassy and gently rippled, 
of a light and exquisite sapphire, gay and brilliant with the 
tremulous lustre, already mentioned, floating upon its surface, 
stretched in prospect to a vast distance, through a great 
variety of larger and smaller apertures. In the chasm, 
formed by the mountains, lay a multitude of islands, differing 
in size, shape, and umbrage, and clothed in deeply shaded 
green. Beyond them, and often partly hidden behind the 
tall and variously figured trees, with which they were tufted, 
rose, in the west and south-west, a long range of distant 
mountains, tinged with a deep misty azure, and crowned with 
an immense succession of lofty pines. Above the mountains, 
and above each other, were extended, in great numbers, long, 
streaming clouds, of the happiest forms, and painted with red 
and orange light, in all their divei'sities of tincture." 

Thus, while the army was embarking, we had time to make 
a little excursion along the lake. Every man knoAvs that it 
takes some time before the last of 15,000 soldiers could get 
his foot into a boat. But now they go, and early next morn- 
ing they landed on the west side of the lake, and commenced 
their march in four columns ; the British in the centre, and 



1758.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 171 

the provincials on the flank. The advanced guard of the 
French, posted on the lake in a logged camp, quickly destroyed 
all they could and made a hasty retreat; and when the 
English arrived the nest was warm, but the birds had all 
flown. In marching through the woods, the guides being 
unskilful, the columns were thrown into confusion and en- 
tangled with each other, when the right centre column fell in 
with some of the enemy's advanced guards, who had lost 
themselves in the woods on their precipitate retreat from the 
lake. They made a furious attack upon each other, in which 
the French were defeated with a loss of about 300 killed and 
wounded, and 148 taken prisoners. On the first fire Lord 
George Howe was killed, an officer who was esteemed above 
all the other British officers, and to his loss the provincials 
attributed their subsequent defeat. 

The English army now encamped at the Saw-Mills, only two 
miles from Ticonderoga. In advance of the fort, garrisoned 
with the usual number of men, the enemy had about 5000 
men posted behind a strong breastwork, eight or nine feet 
high ; and in front of this a number of felled trees, with their 
sharpened branches projecting outward, gave great additional 
strength to the works. 

General Abercrombie sent forward an engineer to recon- 
noitre the ground; but whether he examined the enemy's 
works with great care or great caution, (mark the difference,) 
or whether he kept at a very respectable distance from the 
enemy, not wishing to ivtrude ; or taking it for granted that 
so large an army would certainly take the fort, and thus 
sustain his report and his reputation, we will not undertake 
to decide. He made a favourable report, however, stating 
that the works were imperfect and consequently practicable. 
Upon this the General resolved upon a storm, and accordingly 
made preparations for an assault- The storm soon blew the 
wrong way. The troops were ordered to rush forward, re- 
serving their own fire till they had passed a breastwork ; but 
owing to the felled trees, and the height of the works, this 
was absolutely impracticable, especially without bringing up 
the artillery. Besides, the English attempting to attack but 



172 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1758. 

a small portion of the extended French lines, and that upon 
the strongest and most inaccessible, the enemy poured their 
whole fire upon that spot ; while the English gained no ad- 
vantage by numbers. After keeping these brave fellows for 
four hours in a situation where they were exposed to an in- 
cessant and most galling fire, without the least prospect of 
accomplishing any thing at that point, without bringing 
forward his artillery or changing his plan, the General not 
only ordered a retreat, but ran away with his indignant army 
from a comparatively small force, as if afraid of him who 
proverbially takes the hindmost, and re-crossed Lake George 
with a loss of 2000 men, in killed and wounded. This gained 
the General the unenviable name of Mrs. JVabbycrombie among 
the provincials. 

It might here be remarked, that Major Rogers, an able and 
experienced officer in Indian warfare, and an American by 
birth, offered to scour the woods and examine the condition 
of the enemy, but, of course, this was not granted by a British 
officer, and like his obdurate predecessors who took no advice, 
he met with defeat. Braddock had his Washington, Williams 
had his Hendrick, and Abercrombie his Rogers. This period 
of our country's history would be much more interesting to 
Americans, had not the British officers always kept the merits 
of Americans a profound secret, or appropriated their exploits, 
if possible, to themselves. 

This disastrous result of so great an expedition was felt 
by the British and Americans with peculiar severity, after 
the high expectations which they had naturally entertained 
under such promising circumstances. 

While speaking of Pitt's promotion, we said that the un- 
fortunate campaigns were at an end ; and as this might be 
considered an exception, it may be remarked that this was 
only a part of the campaign. 

After Abercrombie had abandoned the project of captur- 
ing Ticonderoga, Colonel Bradstreet proposed to finish the 
campaign with an expedition against Frontignac, a fort on 
the north side of the St. Lawrence, just where it issues from 
Lake Ontario. This wish was granted, and Bradstreet was 



1758.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 173 



detached with 3000 men, eight pieces of cannon, and three 
mortars. 

On the 25th of August, the Colonel landed within one mile 
of the fort. Not anticipating an attack at this point, the 
garrison consisted of only 110 men with a few Indians. The 
mortars were placed so near the fort, that every shell pro- 
duced disastrous effects to the enemy, and in two days the 
fort was surrendered. The booty consisted of nine armed 
vessels, sixty cannon, sixteen mortars, and an immense quan- 
tity of ammunition, with a great number of et ceteras. This 
place had not only been the general repository for the west- 
ern and southern posts, but the key to the communication 
between Canada and Louisiana. After destroying the fort, 
Bradstreet returned to the army from which he was detached. 

The third point of attack in this campaign was the bul- 
wark of the French dominion over the western regions, fort 
Du Quesne. 

This enterprise was entrusted to General Forbes, who left 
Philadelphia in July, but did not arrive at Du Quesne till late 
in November. The army of Forbes amounted to 8000 men. 
The French garrison, deserted by the Indians, and too weak 
for effectual resistance, had escaped down the Ohio the even- 
ini; before the arrival of the English, who immediately took 
possession of the fort, and changed its name to fort Pitt. The 
Indians, as usual, joined the stronger party, and all the tribes 
between the Ohio and the lakes concluded a peace with the 
victors, relieving the frontier inhabitants of Pennsylvania, 
Maryland and Virginia from the murderous incursions of 
savages armed with tomahawk, with scalping-knife and with 
fire. 

We find the following in the Military and Naval Magazine 
for 1835 : 

Pittsburg, the metropolis of domestic manufactures, al- 
though covered with clouds of smoke, from the operation of 
her yiousand engines, is famed in the annals of history. If 
we resort to its pages, we find that here were erected forts 
Du Quesne, Pitt and Lafayette ; the first by the French, and 
named after their illustrious admiral, Du Quesne ; the second 



174 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1758. 



by the British, called after the eloquent Pitt; and the latter 
built by the Americans, in honour of the friend and com- 
panion of Washington. In surveying the place where these 
fortifications once stood with their banners hoisted in triumph, 
we now see scarcely a trace to point the old soldier to the 
identical spot, and cannot help recalling to memory the 
bloody history of those perilous times, when the war-whoop 
and " qui vive" (who goes there) were the forerunners of 
almost certain destruction. Then, casting a glimpse at the 
busy multitude who are now engaged at their vocations, the 
most of whom, if not all, were unborn at the period of these 
trying hours, an involuntary emotion forces its way, and car- 
ries the mind to pierce the veil of futurity. In a century 
more, probably, the very ground will have assumed, in the 
hands of man, a different shape ; and in vain will the geogra- 
pher endeavour to compare the plot with its former designa- 
tion, or to find the site of the old forts. The visiter, as he 
passes through on his going down the Ohio, will inquire for 
the remains of Du Quesne, when not a stone can be found to 
present to his mind the reality of the spot upon which the 
French garrison was erected. At present there is remaining 
a little mound, near the Alleghany river, which is acknow- 
ledged by some of the oldest inhabitants to be a part of the 
works ; it stands as a monument of the first attempts at 
civilization, when 

Up the wild streams, that bound the hero's view, 
Great GJallia's sons their western course pursue. 

But in the lapse of a few years even this last remembrance 
will have vanished away, and the site be entirely unobserva- 
ble. Here once the brave subaltern, from whom the laurels 
were ungratefully snatched, drilled his little company to the 
" pas accelere." Here the " portez arme," " garde a vous," 
and " en avant," were heard amidst the yells and songs of 
the tawny sons of the forest. Here the sanguinary battle 
where , 

" hapless Braddock finds his destined fall," 

was conceived, matured, and undertaken. Here the victors 
returned, and entered the fort to the sound of the solitary 



1758.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 175 

drum. But, with the remains of the castle, they have like- 
wise disappeared, and probably there is not one living to 
tell the true story of so eventful a period. If the old com- 
mander of Du Quesne were now permitted to see the spot 
upon which stood the battlements of his former grandeur, 
what would be his astonishment ! Instead of beholding the 
little fort, at the point or junction of the rivers, a portion of a 
city, opulent, and celebrated for her industry and manufac- 
turing establishments, would present itself to his view. 

So transient are the works of men, that threescore years 
and ten have sufficed to obliterate these national monuments 
of war ; they are no more ; they have fallen by the hands of 
time, and been demolished by the proprietors of the ground. 
The Frenchman, as he arrives from the land of his forefathers, 
where his infantine ears had heard the tales of the old Ame- 
rican wars, is ready to inquire, as he accosts the stranger, 
" Where is fort Du Quesne 1" He is answered, " It is gone." 
The son of Albion, in treading over the ground which for- 
merly belonged to the subjects of King George, asks, " Where 
is fort Pitt ?" the answer is, " It is demolished." And the 
American, whose breast swells at the sight of the ancient 
works of the pioneers of the west, inquires, *' Where 's fort 
Lafayette?" and arrives just in time to see the old block-house 
torn down, and the last of the forts disappear. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Plan to conquer Canada — Pitt's Circular Letter— Plan of Campaign — General 
Amherst takes Ticonderoga and Crown Point — Prideaux sent against Niagara — 
His Death — Sir William Johnson successfully prosecutes his Predecessor's Plan — 
Expedition against Quebec under Wolfe — Several unsuccessful attempts — Climbs 
the Heights of Abraham — Defeats Montcalm — Death of Wolfe — Death of Montcalm 
— Capitulation of the Inhabitants of Quebec — Sufferings of a Captain and Ensign — 
French abandon Beaufort — Remains of the French Army retire to Montreal — M. 
de Levi attempts to recover Quebec — English Colonies raise more Men — Battle of 
Sillery — Enghsh defeated — M. de Levi besieges Quebec — Raises the Siege — Re- 
treats to Montreal — French Governor makes his last Stand at Montreal — General 
Amherst appears — Governor capitulates — End of the War — Treaty. 

Encouraged by the success of the last campaign, which, 
notwithstanding the defeat of Ticonderoga, was highly hon- 



176 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1759. 



ourable to the English arms and attended with important 
results, it was resolved that the year 1759 should be signal- 
ized by the entire conquest of Canada, though the late effort 
had produced great exhaustion of provincial strength ; and 
when Pitt's circular letter animated the colonists to attempt 
the most vigorous preparations for the great undertaking, 
they found that their resources were not commensurate with 
their good intentions. 

Three armies, however, were raised to attack, at nearly 
the same time, the strongholds of the French in Canada : 
Ticonderoga and Crown Point, Niagara, and Quebec. 

The plan of the campaign was as follows : As soon as the 
St. Lawrence should be open in the spring, Brigadier-general 
Wolfe, escorted by a strong fleet, was to start from Louis- 
burg, and lay siege to Quebec. Major-General Amherst, who 
had superseded Abercrombie, as commander-in-chief, with 
the main army, was to march by the way of Ticonderoga, 
Crown Point, and Richelieu river ; descend the St. Lawrence, 
and form a junction with General Wolfe ; while General Pri- 
deaux, with the third division, was to capture fort Niagara ; 
sail thence for Montreal ; and, after taking that place, join 
the grand army before Quebec. 

General Amherst marched against Ticonderoga, which he 
reached on the 22d July. As the naval superiority of Eng- 
land prevented France sending out reinforcements, none of the 
posts in this quarter were able to defend themselves. Ticon- 
deroga soon surrendered ; and Amherst, after strengthening 
this place, proceeded against Crown Point, of which he took 
undisputed possession, the enemy having abandoned it and 
fled before his arrival. 

The second division of the army, destined against Niagara, 
was led on by General Prideaux, who, embarking at Oswego, 
early in July, soon after landed within a few miles of Niagara. 
As the French had Indian auxiliaries, and knew that they were 
not well calculated for sedentary warfare, it was determined 
to risk a general battle. 

Four days before the battle, Prideaux was killed by the 
bursting of a cohorn, while directing the operations of the 



1759.] FRENCH A.ND INDIAN WAR. 177 

sieo^e, and the command devolved on Sir William Johnson, 
who prosecuted with such vigour the plan of his predecessor, 
that the French, alarmed at the prospect of losing a post 
which constituted a key to their interior empire in America, 
made great efforts in collecting troops from the neighbouring 
garrisons of Detroit, Venango, and Presqu' He. General 
Johnson, with his light infantry, some grenadiers and regular 
foot, placed between the cataract of Niagara and the fortress, 
with the auxiliary Indians on his flanks, awaited the approach 
of the enemy, who appeared on the morning of the 24th, 
charged with great impetuosity, were received with heroic 
firmness; and being deserted by their Indian allies, the French, 
in less than an hour, were completely routed, driven back to 
the fort, and obliged to capitulate. 

The least promising, but the most daring and important 
expedition, was that against Quebec, the capital of Canada. 
Strong by nature, and much improved by art, it was the Gib- 
raltar of America ; and all attempts against it having failed 
hitherto, it seemed almost impregnable. The armed vessels, 
the floating batteries, the strong fortifications, the perpen- 
dicular bank, the strong forts, and a large army commanded 
by the formidable Marquis de Montcalm, would have made 
the idea of its capture appear perfectly chimerical to almost 
any one but such men as Pitt and Wolfe. The latter was 
young, of an ardent mind, glowing with enthusiasm, and 
emulous of glory. Pitt had discovered this in Wolfe's con- 
duct at Louisburg, which induced him to appoint him to 
conduct this difficult expedition, and to give him for assistants, 
Brigadier-Generals Monckton, Townshend, and Murray, all 
like himself young and enthusiastic. 

" Wolfe, now detach'd and bent on bolder deeds, 
A sail-borne host up sea-like Lawrence leads, 
Stems the long lessening tide, till Abraham's lieight 
And famed Quebec rise frowning into sight." % 

Embarking at Louisburg, under convoy of Admirals Saun- 
ders and Holmes, he landed his whole army, consisting of 
8000 men, on the island of Orleans, a few miles below Quebec, 
near the last of June. 

23 



178 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1759. 

After several attempts to reduce the place, finding himself 
baffled and harassed, Wolfe seems to have resolved to finish 
the enterprise by a single bold and desperate effort. 

Determined from the first to take the place, impregnable as 
it was accounted, the measurtjs of General Wolfe were singu- 
larly bold, and apparently repugnant to all the maxims of 
war. His attention was first drawn to Point Levi, on the 
southern bank of the St. Lawrence ; upon which, after taking 
possession of it, he erected batteries. By means of these he 
destroyed many houses, but from this point it was soon appa- 
rent that little impression could be made upon the fortifica- 
tions of the town. 

Finding it impracticable thus to accomplish his purpose, 
Wolfe next decided on more daring measures. For the pur- 
pose of drawing Montcalm to a general battle, Wolfe, with 
his troops, crossed the river Montmorenci, and attacked the 
enemy in their entrenchments. Owing, however, to the 
grounding of some of the boats which conveyed the troops, a 
part of the detachment did not land so soon as the others. 
The corps that first landed, without waiting to form, rushed 
forward impetuously towards the enemy's entrenchments. 
But their courage proved their ruin. A close and well-di- 
rected fire from the enemy cut them down in great numbers. 

Montcalm's party had now landed, and were drawn up on 
the beach in ordert But it was near night, a thunder-storm 
was approaching, and the tide was rapidly setting in. Fearing 
the consequences of delay, Wolfe ordered a retreat across the 
Montmorenci, and returned to his quarters on the Isle of 
Orleans. In this rencontre his loss amounted to near 600 of 
the flower of his army. 

The difficulties of effecting the conquest of Quebec now 
pressed upon Wolfe with all their force. But he knew the im- 
portance of taking this strongest hold — he knew the expecta- 
tions of his countrymen — he well knew that no military con- 
duct could shine that was not gilded with success. 

Disappointed thus far, and worn down with fatigue and 
watchfulness. General Wolfe fell violently sick. Scarcely 
had he recovered, before he proceeded to put in execution a 



1759.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 179 

plan which had been matured on his sick-bed. This was to 
proceed up the river, gain the heights of Abraham, and draw 
Montcalm to a general engagement. 

Accordingly, the troops were transported up the river 
about nine miles. On the 12th of September, one hour after 
midnight, Wolfe and his troops left the ships, and in boats 
silently dropped down the current, intending to land a league 
above Cape Diamond, and there ascend the bank leading to 
the station he wished to gain. Owing, however, to the ra- 
pidity of the river, they fell below the intended place, and 
landed a mile, or a mile and a half above the city. 

The operation was a critical one, as they had to navigate 
in silence, down a rapid stream, and to find a right place for 
landing, which, amidst surrounding darkness, might be easily 
mistaken. Besides this, the shore was shelving, and the bank 
so steep and lofty as scarcely to be ascended, even without 
opposition from an enemy. Indeed, the attempt was in the 
greatest danger of being defeated by an occurrence peculiarly 
interesting, as marking the very great delicacy of the trans- 
action. 

One of the French sentinels posted along the shore, as the 
English boats were descending, challenged them in the custom- 
ary military language of the French. " Qui vit ?" " who goes 
there ?" To which, a captain in Frazer's regiment, who had 
served in Holland, and was familiar with the French lan^uaire 
and customs, promptly replied, " la France.'^ The next 
question was still more embarrassing, for the sentinel de- 
manded "a quel regi?nent?" " to what regiment?" The cap- 
tain, who happened to know the name of a regiment which 
was up the river with Bougainville, promptly rejoined, "de la 
Reine" " the Queen's." The soldier immediately replied, 
"passe;" for he concluded at once that this was a French 
convoy of provisions, which, as the English had learned from 
some deserters, was expected to pass down the river to 
Quebec. The other sentinels were deceived in a similar 
manner ; but one, less credulous than the rest, runnina: down 
to the water's edge, called out, " Pou7' quois est ce que vous 
ne parlez plus haul ? " " Why don't you speak louder ?" The 



180 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1759. 



same captain, with perfect self-command, replied, "Tais toi, 
nous serous entendus /" " Hush, we shall be overheard and 
discovered !" The sentry, satisfied with this caution, retired, 
and the boats passed in safety. — Silliman's Tour. 

" Swift bounding' on the bank, the foe they claim, 
Climb the tall mountain like a rolling flame, 
Push wide their wings, high bannering bright the air, 
And move to fight as comets cope in war." 

The shelving beach, the high and precipitous bank, with 
only one narrow path by which it could be scaled, defended 
by a captain's guard and battery of four guns, were by no 
means very promising to their enterprise. But Wolfe pro- 
bably now thought, as he before had said, that " a victorious 
army finds no difficulties," which of course signifies that it 
regards none. Colonel Howe led the van, clambered up the 
rocks, a distance of one hundred and fifty or two hundred 
feet, almost perpendicular ascent — drove away the guard, 
and took possession of the battery. The army landed about 
an hour before day, on the 13th of September, and at day- 
break marshalled on the heights of Abraham. 

Montcalm, who had deemed the ascending of the precipice 
an impossibility, could not at first credit the intelligence ; but 
being convinced of its truth, he endeavoured to make the 
best of it by hasty preparations for a battle, which it was no 
longer possible to avoid. He left his camp at Montmorenci, 
crossed the river St. Charles, and advanced against the Eng- 
lish army. Wolfe, on perceiving this movement, began to 
form his order of battle. The right wing of the English 
army was commanded by General Monckton; i\m left by 
General Murray. The Louisburg grenadiers covered the 
right flank, and Howe's infantry the rear and left ; while 
Webb's regiment, separated by wide spaces into eight sub- 
divisions, constituted the corps of reserve. The movements 
of the enemy indicating a design to outflank the left of the 
English army. General Townshend was ordered to double 
that part of the line with Amherst's battalion and the two 
battalions of Americans. The dispositions of the French 
general were equally ingenious. His right and left wings 



1759.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 181 

were composed of about an equal number of European and 
American troops, while the centre consisted of a column 
formed by two battalions of regulars. The main body of the 
French was preceded by fifteen hundred Indians and Cana- 
dians, who annoyed the English excessively by their fire from 
behind the bushes. The French had two field-pieces ; the 
English one. Wolfe being on the right of his army and 
Montcalm on the left of the French, they were of course op- 
posite each other. Montcalm led briskly to the charge. 

Wolfe stands the representative of England ; he thinks of 
Pitt ; he thinks of his country ; he knows that between a bat- 
tle won and a battle lost there is an immense distance ; that 
empires lie between them ; that upon the present occasion 
this maxim will prove emphatically true, for he had staked 
all upon this hazardous adventure. The pride of his soul 
arises ; he is to decide whether Canada is to be a French or 
a British colony — whether the colonies already in their pos- 
session shall be enjoyed peaceably or overrun by the French 
and Indians, and involved in irretrievable ruins. These were 
thoughts that rushed like a torrent over the young hero's soul 
and overwhelmed every consideration of personal safety. 
He was 

" pure of mind, 



But formed to combat with his kind ; 
Strong in mind, and of a mood 
Which 'gainst the world in war had stood, 
And perish 'd in the foremost rank 
With joy." 

There is active and passive courage ; the former is a kind 
of desperation, often closely allied to cowardice ; but the 
latter is that cool daring when men stand and look upon the 
approaching enemy, reserving their own fire. There is some- 
thing sublime in this — at least when men are engaged in a 
just cause : it is the most dignified courage the warrior ever 
exhibits. It is the best manifestation of a determined mind 
which conquers the natural fear of death. 

Between nine and ten o'clock, the two armies, about equal 
in number, met face to face. The English, who had been 



182 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1759. 



ordered to reserve their fire, regardless of that of the de- 
tached body of Canadians and Indians, skulking about the 
woods, cornfields, and bushes, awaited the approach of the 
French army until they were within forty yards. Now 

" Hark ! peals the cannon's deafening knell. 
Now bursts the closer combat's yell, 

The sheathless falchion's glance : 
While ranks that stand, o'er ranks that kneel, 
Their devastating volleys deal ; 
And fiist as bayonet or ball 
Make breaches in the human wall, 
T' avenge or share their comrades' fall, 

The rearward files advance. 

♦' The dust by trampling thousands plough'd, 
Fringing the battle's heaving cloud, 

There is no breeze to rend : 
But through the gloom each varied tone 
Of slaughter's voice — the shout, the groan, — 
The bugle's blast, the charging cheer, — 
The mutual volley, sharp and clear, — 
The shock of steel, the shriek of fear, — 

In one mad chorus blend !" 

When the English opened their general fire, they made 
terrible havoc among the French. Almost every shot took 
effect. The French fought bravely, but their ranks were 
soon thrown into disorder. The left and centre of the French 
began to waver and give way. Wolfe fell as he was pressing 
on at the head of his grenadiers, with fixed bayonets. Monck- 
ton, second in command, soon shared the same fate, and the 
command devolved on General Townshend. Montcalm re- 
ceived a mortal wound about the same time, while fighting 
in front of his battalions ; and General Senezergus, the second 
in command, also fell. The British grenadiers still pressed 
on with their fixed bayonets ; General Murray by a brisk 
advance broke the centre of the French; the Highlanders 
drew their broadswords, increasing the confusion of the ene- 
my, while Colonel Howe, who had stationed two companies 
behind a copse on the left, as the right wing of the French 
advanced against the English, rushed from his ambush, like 



1759-] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 183 



a mountain torrent upon the flank of the astonished foe and 
threw them into the utmost confusion ; and having lost their 
first and second in command, the right and centre of the 
French were driven from the field, and the left were follow- 
ing, when Bougainville made his appearance in the rear with 
1500 men who had been detached by Montcalm to watch the 
movements of the English after they had left their camp at 
the isle of Orleans. Two battalions and two pieces of artil- 
lery were detached to meet him. but he faced to the right 
about, and made a most precipitate retreat, leaving the Eng- 
lish undisputed masters of the field. 

The loss of the French far exceeded that of the English : 
1000 were killed, and 1000 taken prisoners. Their corps of 
regulars was almost entirely destroyed. The loss of the 
English in killed and wounded did not exceed 600. Quebec 
was still strongly defended by its fortifications, and might be 
relieved by Bougainville, or from Montreal ; but General 
Townshend finishing a road in the bank, to take up his heavy 
artillery, tlie inhabitants capitulated in five days after the 
battle, on condition that during the war they might still enjoy 
their own civil and religious rights. Murray was left with 
a garrison of 5000; and the fleet sailed out of the St. Law- 
rence. 

In addition to the above, we give a poetical description of 
this great enterprise, from the pen of a very able writer : 

The moon had drawn her watchful eye 

From Montmorency's silver wave, 
And in their radiant homes on high, 
Imprison'd by the curtain'd sky. 

The stars, unseen, their splendour gave 
And wild St. Lawrence' waters roU'd 

More proudly 'neath the keels that bore 
(At head of England's chosen bold) 

One of the laurel-crown'd of war. 
No martial notes from trump or horn 
Were on the midnight breezes borne, 
When with his fairy fleet of war 
Sought IVance' dread foe her hostile shore ; 
No bugle-blast rang through the air. 
Waved not St George's banner there — 



184 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1759. 

But swift and silent as the gale 
That sped them, that flotilla frail 

Went down the darken'd tide ; 
While on the leading prow, with eye 
That told of hopes and projects high, 

Stood Wolfe, in lonely pride. 

Onward they sped — no sound was heard 

Throughout that brave, devoted band. 
Save the haflf-sigh'd, half-whisper'd word 

That told their daring chief's command. 
By the dark wave's phosphorent beam, 

Who saw them as they onward flew, 
Had thought he stood by Stygian stream, 

And saw grim Charon's shadoviy crew. 

Nor guardless was Quebec's wide coast, 
Nor slept they at their fearful post. 

On Abraham's dizzy heights : 
Yet was that shore by foemen won, 
Nor peal'd there forth one signal gun, 

Nor blazed the beacon-lights. 

Envelop'd in night's rayless pall, 
Frown'd fearfiilly the towering wall 
Of Nature's fortress on that train ; 
That wall, that fortress, frown'd in vain : 
Onward they came, as comes the storm 

That gathers o'er the mountain's head, 
When, cloud by cloud, its forces form 

In one vast volume, dark and dread. 

The sun, when last his evening light 
Look'd down on Abraham's guarded height, 

Saw only an unpeopled plain. 
Where by his silent cannon stood 
The sentinel in gloomy mood. 
And from the cliflF's bright summit view'd 

His glowing splendour wane. 

The sun returning found not there 

That sentinel at his guarded post, 
But saw, beneath the colours feir 
That floated in the mountain air, 

Old England's banner'd host, 



1759.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 185 

In many a frowning squadron set. 
Whose glittering steel and bayonet, 
And sheathless swords, and armour bright, 
Rash'd proudly back his beams of light 

Then o'er the morning air there broke 

The 'larum cannon's lengthen'd roar ; 
Then spire to answering turret spoke, 
And hush'd Quebec in terror woke, 

To gird her for the coming war. 

Blazed then her beacon-lights on high, 

To warn Montcalm his foe was nigh ; 

Dash'd through her streets, with lightning speed, 

The herald on his foaming steed ; 

And 'neath tlie bugle's echoing blast, 

From camp and court, from hearth and hall. 
Came plumed warriors fierce and fast. 

Responsive to its rallying call. 

Noon came not ere mose armies met. 

Where armies ne'er before had stood — 
On plains which, unensanguined yet. 

Should know too soon the hue of blood ; 
Whose sleeping echoes soon should swell 

With sounds unecho'd there before, 
And bear o'er many a distant dell 
The victor's shout, the vanquish'd'a knell, 
And all the varied tones that tell 

The presence of the demon War. 

" Nature sleeps quiet on the verge 

Of great convulsions" — and 't is said 
A death-like silence is the dirge 

That wails the coming earthquake's dead. 
Such was the pause on Abraham's height, 
While, in their dread array of might. 

They wait tlie signal to advance ; 
Then rang the clarion wild and high, 
And " Wolfe and England !" rent the sky, 

And " Count Montcalm for France !" 

As when, by counter-currents driven, 
Fierce storm-clouds meet athwart the heaven. 
And mingle into one ; 

24 0* 



186 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1759. 

While frequent flashes gild the air, 
And the loud thunder rolls afar, 
So was the fight begun. 

Blaze followed blaze ; roar answered roar ; 
And from St. Lawrence' fiirthest shore 

Responsive echoes rung ; 
Bounded the frighted wild-deer by, 
And from his eyrie lone and high 

The startled eagle sprung. 

Nor least amid the varied tones 

Of charging shouts and dying groans. 

The savage war-whoop rose : 
While gliding forms like sprites were seen, 
With painted face and earthless mien. 

Mingling with England's foes. 

And who is he, the youth whose plume 

Waves foremost in the ranks of death ; 
Whose sword is shunn'd as surer doom 

Than waits upon the Upas' breath ? 
From rank to rank, from post to post, 

Through England's lines his steed is spurr'd, 
And where the battle rages most. 

Above its din his voice is heard. 

'Tis Wolfe — nor scatheless has he pass'd 

Amid the death-wing'd balls that fly 
Like hail before the summer blast : 

Alas ! not all could pass him by. 
Wounded and worn, he still commands — 
Still urges on his wavering bands, 
And shouts through their thinn'd ranks the cry, 
" Charge now for death or victory .'" 

They charged — ^but though with fearful shock, 

'Twas firmly met as firmly given ; 
So meets the frowning ocean rock 

The riving thunderbolt of heaven. 
They charged — ^but when the wheeling clouds 

Reveal that fearfiil field again. 
The eye that seeks amid those crowds 

For valiant Wolfe, must seek in vain. 

The centre of an anxious group. 
Supported by his aids apart, 



1759.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 187 

Now ^adually his powers droop, 

And steals the life-blood from his heart. 
Still doth he watch with dauntless eye 

The wavering fortunes of the field, 
Anxious in death to hear the cry 

Which tells him that the foemen yield. 

That cry was heard — again — again 
It thunder'd o'er the battle-plain : 

" For Wolfe and England !" rang tlie cry, 
WTiile faithful echo answer'd still, 
From rock to rock, from hill to hill ; 

So wildly rose those shouts and high. 
It seem'd the very vault of Heaven 
Had been by acclaiming voices riven. 

New life a moment fill'd his frame, 
And haply o'er his spirit came 
Some sunny visions of his feme, 

Gildmg the clouds of death ; 
His eye unearthly language spoke. 
One smile on his pale lips awoke. 

And with his failing breath, 
In whisper'd accents, he replied 
To those victorious shouts — and died ! 

The death of Wolfe cast a gloom over the brilliant victory, 
and his fall Vi^as universally and deeply regretted in England 
and throughout the colonies. 

In the beginning of the battle, he vi^as wounded in the 
wrist by a musket ball ; he wrapped his handkerchief round 
it, continued to give his orders with his usual calmness and 
perspicuity, and informed the soldiers that the advanced 
parties, on the front, had his orders to retire, and that they 
need not be surprised when it happened. Soon after, he 
received a shot in the groin, which he concealed, still pressing 
onward. Towards the end of the battle, which had lasted 
only about fifteen minutes, until the French began to give 
way, Wolfe received a new wound in the breast ; he imme- 
diately retired behind the rear rank, supported by a grenadier, 
and laid himself down on the ground. Soon after, a shout 
was heard, and some of the officers who stood by him 
exclaimed, " See how they run !" The dying hero, raising 



188 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1759. 

his head, asked, with some emotion, "Who run?" "The 
enemy," replied the officer ; " they give way everywhere." 
The General then said, " Pray, do one of you run to Colonel 
Burton, and tell him to march Webb's regiment, with all 
speed, down to Charles river, to cut off the retreat of the 
fugitives from the bridge. Now, God be praised, I shall die 
happy !" He then turned on his side, closed his eyes, and 
expired. 

" This death," says Professor Silliman, " has furnished a 
grand and pathetic subject for the painter, the poet, and the 
historian, and, undoubtedly, considered as a specimen of mere 
military glory, it is one of the most sublime that the annals 
of war afford." 

The death of Montcalm was equally heroic. Being told 
that his wound was mortal, and that he could survive but a 
few hours, he replied, " So much the better ; I shall not live 
to see the surrender of Quebec." 

The following account of the dangers and sufferings of 
two officers of the English army, during the battle, is given 
by Professor Silliman. 

" Captain Ochterlony and Ensign Peyton belonged to the 
regiment of Brigadier-General Monckton. They were nearly 
of an age, which did not exceed thirty. Both were agreeable 
in person, and were connected together by the ties of mutual 
friendship and esteem. On the day that preceded the battle, 
the captain had fought with a German officer, in which, 
though he wounded and disarmed his antagonist, yet he him- 
self received a dangerous hurt under the right arm, in conse- 
quence of which, his friends insisted on his remaining in 
camp during the action of next day ; but his spirit was too 
great to comply with this remonstrance. He declared it 
should never be said that a scratch, received in a private 
rencontre^ had prevented him from doing his duty, when his 
country required his service ; and he took the field with a 
fusil in his hand, though he was hardly able to carry his 
arms. In leading up his men to the enemy's entrenchment, 
he was shot through the lungs with a musket-ball, an acci- 
dent which obliged him to part with his fusil, but he still 



1759.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 189 

continued advancing, until, by loss of blood, he became too 
weak to proceed further. About the same time, Mr. Peyton 
was lamed by a shot, which shattered the small bone of his 
left leg. The soldiers, in their retreat, earnestly begged, with 
tears in their eyes, that Captain Ochterlony would allow them 
to carry him and the ensign off the field. But he was so big- 
oted to a severe point of honour, that he would not quit the 
ground, though he desired they would take care of his ensign. 
Mr. Peyton, with a generous disdain, rejected their good 
offices, declaring that he would not leave his captain in such 
a situation, and, in a little time, they remained sole survivors 
on that part of the field. 

" The captain sat down by his friend, and, as they expected 
nothing but immediate death, they took leave of each other ; 
yet they were not altogether abandoned by the hope of being 
protected as prisoners ; for the captain, seeing a French sol- 
dier, with two Indians, approach, started up, and accosting 
them in the French language, which he spoke perfectly well, 
expressed his expectation that they would treat him and his 
companion as officers, prisoners, and gentlemen. 

" The two Indians seemed to be entirely under the conduct 
of the Frenchman, who, coming up to Mr. Peyton as he sat 
on the ground, snatched his laced hat from his head, and rob- 
bed the captain of his watch and money. This outrage was 
a signal to the Indians for murder and pillage. One of them, 
clubbing his firelock, struck at him behind, with a view to 
knock him down, but the blow, missing his head, took place 
upon his shoulders. At the same instant, the other Indian 
poured his shot into the breast of this unfortunate young 
gentleman, who cried out : " Oh ! Peyton ! the villain has 
shot me." Not yet satiated with cruelty, the barbarian 
sprung upon him and stabbed him in the abdomen with his 
scalping-knife. The captain, having parted with his fusil, 
had no weapon for his defence, as none of the officers wore 
swords in the action. The three ruffians, finding him still 
alive, endeavoured to strangle him with his own sash ; and 
he was now upon his knees, struggling against them with 
surprising exertion. Mr. Peyton, at this juncture, having a 



190 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1759. 



double-barrelled musket in his hand, and seeing the distress 
of his friend, fired at one of the Indians, who dropped dead 
on the spot. The other, thinking the ensign would now be 
an easy prey, advanced towards him, and Mr. Peyton, hav- 
ing taken good aim, at the distance of four yards discharged 
his piece a second time, but it seemed to take no effect. The 
savage fired in his turn and wounded the ensign in the shoul- 
der ; then rushing upon him, thrust his bayonet through his 
body ; he repeated the blow, in attempting to parry which 
Mr. Peyton received another wound in his left hand ; never- 
theless, he seized the Indian's musket with the same hand, 
pulled him forwards, and with his right drawing a dagger 
which hung by his side, plunged it in the barbarian's side. 
A violent struggle ensued ; but at length Mr. Peyton was up- 
permost, and, with repeated strokes of his dagger, killed his 
antagonist. Here he was seized with an unaccountable emo- 
tion of curiosity to know whether or not his shot had taken 
effect on the body of the Indian ; he accordingly turned him 
up, and stripping off his blanket, perceived that the ball had 
penetrated quite through the cavity of the breast. Having 
thus obtained a dear-bought victory, he started up on one 
leg, and saw the captain standing at the distance of sixty 
yards, close by the enemy's breast-work, with the French 
soldier attending him. Mr. Peyton then called aloud, " Cap- 
tain, I am glad to see you have at last got under protection. 
Beware of that villain, who is more barbarous than the sav- 
ages. God bless you, my dear Captain. I see a party of 
Indians coming this way, and expect to be murdered imme- 
diately." A number of these barbarians had for some time 
been employed on the left, in scalping and pillaging the dying 
and the dead that were left upon the field of battle ; and 
above thirty of them were in full march to destroy Mr. Pey- 
ton. This gentleman knew he had no mercy to expect ; for, 
should his life be spared for the present, they would have 
afterwards insisted upon sacrificing him to the manes of their 
brethren whom he had slain ; and in that case he would have 
been put to death by the most excruciating tortures. Full 
of this idea, he snatched up his musket, and, notwithstanding 



1759.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 191 

his broken leg, ran above forty yards without halting ; and 
feeling himself now totally disabled, and incapable of pro- 
ceeding one step further, he loaded his piece and presented 
it at the two foremost Indians, who stood aloof waiting to be 
joined by their fellows ; while the French, from their breast- 
works, kept up a continual fire of cannon and small-arms 
upon this poor, solitary, maimed gentleman. In this uncom- 
fortable situation he stood, when he discerned, at a distance, 
a Highland officer with a party of his men skirting the plain 
towards the field of battle. He forthwith waved his hand as 
a signal of distress, and being perceived by the officer, he de- 
tached three of his men to his assistance. These brave fel- 
lows hastened to him through the midst of a terrible fire, and 
one of them bore him off on his shoulders. The Highland 
officer was Captain Macdonald, of Colonel Frazer's battalion ; 
who, understanding that a young gentleman, his kinsman, 
had dropped on the field of battle, had put himself at the 
head of his party, with which he penetrated to the middle of 
the field, drove a considerable number of the French and In- 
dians before him, and finding his relation still unscalped, car- 
ried him off in triumph. 

" Poor Captain Ochterlony was conveyed to Quebec, where, 
in a few days, he died of his wounds. After the reduction 
of that place, the French surgeons who attended him de- 
clared that, in all probability, he would have recovered of the 
two shots he had received in his breast, had he not been 
mortally wounded in the abdomen by the Indian's scalping- 
knife. 

"As this very remarkable scene was acted in sight of both 
armies, General Townshend, in the sequel, expostulated with 
the French officers upon the inhumanity of keeping up such a 
severe fire against two wounded gentlemen, who were disabled, 
and destitute of all hope of escaping. They answered, ' that 
the fire was not made by the regulars, but by the Canadians 
and savages, whom it was not in the power of discipline to 
restrain.' " 

The day after the engagement, the enemy abandoned Beau- 
fort, leaving behind them about eighty pieces of cannon and 



192 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1760. 



three mortars, having first set fire to all their floating batteries, 
and blown up their magazines of powder for supplying them 
and the troops that were on that side. 

The remains of the French army, which were still large, 
under M. de Levi, retired to Montreal. At first he had 
hoped to recover Quebec, by a coup-de-main, during the win- 
ter ; but, finding the outposts too well secured, and the gov- 
ernor very vigilant, he postponed the enterprise until spring. 

The English resolved to follow up their victories ; while 
the French were determined, if possible, to retrieve their 
lost fortunes. The colonial legislatures voted for 1760, the 
same number of men they had furnished this year, while 
M. de Levi made preparation to retake Quebec before those 
forces could arrive. In April, when the upper part of the St. 
Lawrence was open, he descended the river, under the convoy 
of six frigates ; and, after a march of ten days, arrived with 
his army at Point au Tremble, within a few miles of Quebec. 
The garrison of General Murray, to whom the care of main- 
taining the English conquest had been intrusted, instead of 
5000, could now muster only about 3000 men fit for service. 
The troops had been thus reduced by sickness, arising from 
an extremely cold winter, and a want of good provisions. 

With this small body, he resolved to meet the enemy in 
the field ; and, on the 28th of April, he marched out to meet 
him, when a bloody battle was fought at Sillery, about three 
miles above the city. The English, after losing 1000 men, 
finding themselves in danger of being outflanked and sur- 
rounded by superior numbers, found it necessary to retreat to 
Quebec. The French loss has been estimated at about 2000. 

On the evening of the same day, the French opened trenches 
before the town, but it was not until the 11th of May that 
he could mount his batteries, and bring his guns to bear upon 
the fortifications. In the meantime, Murray was not idle. 
By the most indefatigable exertions he had completed some 
outworks, and mounted so numerous an artillery on his ram- 
parts, that his fire far exceeded that of the besiegers. In a 
few days a British fleet appeared, and M. de Levi raised the 
siege very hastily, and retired precipitately to Montreal. 



1760-3.] FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 193 

Here, the Marquis de Vaudreuil, Governor-General of Canada, 
had fixed his head-quarters ; and here, he resolved to make a 
last and a desperate efTort. He called in all his detachments, 
and collected in this place all the force of the colony. 

The English were resolved to annihilate the French power 
in Canada, and with this view. General Amherst prepared to 
overwhelm it with a superiority of numbers. The armies 
from Quebec, from lake Ontario and lake Champlain, arrived, 
on the 6th and 7th September, before Montreal. The French 
governor perceiving that resistance would be in vain, a ca- 
pitulation was immediately signed ; and Detroit, Michili- 
mackinac — in a word, all New France soon after surrendered 
to the English. The French troops were to be carried home, 
and the Canadians to retain their civil and religious privileges. 
Thus terminated a war, during which the most unheard-of 
cruelties had been perpetrated by the savages, mutually ex- 
cited by the French and English against each other. The 
French commenced by attempting to confine the English to 
a narrow strip of country along the Atlantic, and ended with 
the loss of what was then their only important territory in 
North America. 

In 1763, a definitive treaty was signed at Paris, and soon 
after ratified by the Kings of England and France, by which 
all Nova Scotia, Canada, the isle of Cape Breton, with all the 
other islands in the gulf and river St. Lawrence, were ceded 
to Great Britain. 

While the troops were engaged in the conquest of Canada, 
the Cherokee Indians, a powerful tribe, were committing 
many outrages in the colonies of Virginia and South Carolina. 
General Amherst despatched General Montgomery with an 
army of 1200 men against them. He proceeded into their 
country, where he plundered and destroyed their villages and 
magazines of corn; but being obliged to return. Colonel 
Grant was sent against the savages with an army of near 
2600 men. He met the enemy, and after a severe battle 
put them to flight. He next proceeded to burn their corn- 
fields, magazines, villages, &.c. The chiefs came in, and a 
peace was concluded. 

_ _ 



194 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1760-3. 

" Again the towns aspire ; the cultured field 
And crowded mart their copious treasures yield ; 
Back to his plough the colon soldier moves, 
And songs of triumph fill the warbling groves ; 
The conscious flocks, returning joys that share, 
Spread through the grassland o'er the walks of war ; 
Streams, freed of gore, their crystal course regain, 
Serener sunbeams gild the tentless plain ; 
A general jubilee, o'er earth and heaven. 
Leads the gay mom and lights the lambent even. 

Rejoicing, confident of long repose, 
(Their friends triumphant, far retired their foes,) 
The British colonies now feel their sway. 
Span the whole north and crowd the western day. 
Acadia, Canada, earth's total side. 
From Slave's long lake to Pensacola's tide. 
Expand their soils for them ; and here unfold 
A range of highest hope, a promised age of gold." 



1764.] REVOLUTION. 195 



PART III. 
REVOLUTION. 

CHAPTER I. 

Cause of the Revolution — Stamp Act — Its Effects — Grenville's Speech — Barre's 
Reply — Change of Ministry — Effort to revoke the Stamp Act — Franklin's Speech 
— Grenville's Reply — Pitt's Speech — revocation of the Stamp Act — Change of 
Ministry — Duties on Tea, &c. — Disturbances in the Colonies — Imprudent Acts of 
Parliament — Troops sent to Boston — Fight between Soldiers and Citizens — Im- 
portation of Tea — Its Reception— Boston Port-Bill— Meetings held in the Colonies 
— Congress meets at Philadelphia — Their Acts — What constitutes a State — Prepara- 
tions for War — Assistance of the Ladies — Governor fortifies Boston — Seizes the 
Powder at Charlestown — People fly to Arms — Excitement in the other Provinces. 

" What heroes from the woodland sprung, 
When through the fresh awaken'd land 
The thrilling cry of freedom rung, 
And to the work of warfare strung 
The yeoman's iron hand !" 

" the blood more stirs 



To rouse a lion, than to start a hare." 

Although the object of this work is, more particularly, the 
description of warlike operations, than the proceedings of 
legislative bodies, yet, the rights of the colonists, and of man- 
kind generally, were so ably discussed in America and in 
England, just before, and during the revolution, and the justice 
of the war so clearly demonstrated to every unprejudiced 
mind, that we could not do justice to our subject without 
entering more fully into their detail than we had at first in- 
tended. 

Instead of giving the detached ideas of many individuals, 



u= 



196 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1764. 

from which we can never form correct opinions, we shall give 
the orations of a few of those illustrious men, of both coun- 
tries, whose minds rose higher and higher, and shone with 
brighter effulgence as the fearful political storm increased 
around them. 

Taxation or no taxation, that was the question — the hinge 
upon which the revolution turned. 

After the close of the French and Indian War, and the 
treaty of 1763, England, encumbered with an enormous na- 
tional debt, incurred by her wars in the Old and the New 
World, adopted a most oppressive policy against the colonies. 
An act was passed in Parliament, September 24, 1764, the 
preamble to which began thus : " Whereas, it is just and ne- 
cessary that a revenue be raised in America, for defraying the 
expenses of defending, protecting, and securing the same, we 
the Commons, &c." The act then goes on to lay a duty on 
a variety of articles, The colonists justly contended that 
taxation and representation were inseparable, and that they 
could not be safe, if their property could be taken from them 
without their consent. 

The following year, notwithstanding the memorials, the 
remonstrances, the petitions, and resolutions of the Ameri- 
can provinces, the famous stamp act passed both houses of 
Parliament. By this it was ordained that instruments of 
writing, such as deeds, bonds, notes, &c, among the colonies, 
should be null and void, unless executed on stamped paper, 
for which a high duty should be paid to the crown. To 
make this act still more odious, if possible, the stamp duties 
were to be paid in specie; of which, said Benjamin Franklin, 
there was not enough, in all the colonies, to pay them, even 
for one year. Another provision in this act was, that those 
charged with a violation of the revenue laws might be prose- 
cuted in the courts of admiralty, thus depriving them of a 
trial by jury, and exposing them to the rapacity of a single 
officer of the crown, whose salary proceeded from the very for- 
feitures decreed by himself! ! 

The legislature of Virginia being in session when the news 
of the act was received, immediately passed resolutions 



1765.] REVOLDTION. 197 



against it. The general court of Massachusetts recommended 
a congress of deputies from the colonies, to deliberate upon 
the best means of opposing this preposterous system of taxa- 
tion. They met at New York, drew up a declaration of 
rights and grievances of the colonies ; and voted a petition to 
the king. The greatest excitement prevailed among the 
people. In one of the societies they formed, the members 
bound themselves to march, at their own expense, to any part 
of the continent, for the single purpose of preventing the ex- 
ecution of the stamp act. 

On the 5th of October, the ships which brought the stamps, 
appeared in sight of Philadelphia ; whereupon all the vessels 
in the harbour hoisted their colours half-staff high : the bells 
were muffled, and tolled during the remainder of the day, 
and all seemed to denote great mourning over a national 
calamity. 

On the 1st of November, when the stamp act came into 
operation, the day was ushered in by a tolling of the bells in 
Boston and in Postsmouth. In the latter place, a coffin, in- 
scribed with the word Liberty, was carried to the grave. 
Minute-guns were fired during the movements of the funeral 
procession, and at the grave an oration was offered in favour 
of the deceased. Similar feelings were manifested in various 
parts of the country. Riots broke out in the principal cities ; 
officers were threatened, and some had their houses demolished, 
and their furniture destroyed. " The courts of justice were 
closed; the ports were shut; even marriages were no longer 
celebrated ; and, in a word, an absolute stagnation in all the 
relations of social life was established." 

When great outrages are committed upon a spirited people ; 
when attempts are made to deprive them of their rights, their 
indignation becomes terrible, and many become extremely 
violent, so as often to injure for a time the most noble cause. 
Their more prudent brethren, or their own reflections, when 
the first impulse is over, generally, however, bring them within 
due bounds, to make a reasonable and judicious opposition to 
their oppressors. 

The King's ministers, who, pending this bill, had been de- 

_ 



198 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1765. 

claiming vehemently against the opposition of the colonists, 
had proved nothing but their own bigotry and blind zeal for 
the King, and their entire destitution of a sense of political 
truth and justice, relative to this great question. Mr. Charles 
Townsend, in the conclusion of a speech on this measure of 
George Grenville's, exclaimed, 

" These Americans, our own children, planted by our cares, 
nourished by our indulgence, protected by our arms, until 
they are grown to a good degree of strength and opulence ; 
will they now turn their backs upon us, and grudge to con- 
tribute their mite to relieve us from the heavy load which 
overwhelms us ?" 

Colonel Barre caught the words, and with the true spirit 
of a soldier, said : 

" Planted by your cares ? No ! your oppression planted 
them in America ; they fled from your tyranny into a then 
uncultivated land, where they were exposed to almost all the 
hardships to which human nature is liable, and among others, 
to the savage cruelty of the enemy of the country ; a people 
the most subtle, and, I take upon me to say, the most truly 
terrible of any people that ever inhabited any part of God's 
earth ; and yet, actuated by principles of true English liberty, 
they met all these hardships with pleasure, compared with 
those they suffered in their own country, from the hands of 
those that should have been their friends. 

" They nourished by your indulgence ? They grew by your 
neglect ; as soon as you began to care about them, that care 
was exercised in sending persons to rule over them, in one 
department and another, who were, perhaps, the deputies of 
some members of this house, sent to spy out their liberty, to 
misrepresent their actions, and to prey upon them; men, 
whose behaviour, on many occasions, had caused the blood 
of these sons of liberty to recoil within them ; men, pro- 
moted to the highest seats of justice, some of whom, to my 
knowledge, were glad, by going to foreign countries, to escape 
the vengeance of the laws in their own. 

" They protected by your arms ? They have nobly taken up 
arms in your defence, have exerted their valour amidst their 



1765.] REVOLUTION. 199 

constant and laborious industry, for the defence of a country, 
whose frontiers, while drenched in blood, its interior parts 
have yielded, for your enlargements, the little savings of their 
frugality and the fruits of their toils. And believe me, re- 
member I this day told you so, that the same spirit which 
actuated that people at first, will continue with them still ; 
but prudence forbids me to explain myself any further. God 
knows I do not, at this time, speak from motives of party 
heat ; what I assert proceeds from the sentiments of the heart. 
However superior to me in general knowledge and experience 
any one here may be, yet I claim to know more of America, 
having seen and been more conversant in that country. The 
people there are as truly loyal as any subjects the king has ; 
but a people jealous of their liberties, and who will vindi- 
cate them if they should be violated. But the subject is deli- 
cate ; I will say no more." 

While the colonel delivered this extemporaneous discourse, 
the whole house, petrified with surprise, stared at him as 
though he had been a messenger from another sphere. 

On the very night the stamp act was passed. Dr. Franklin, 
who was then in London, w rote to Charles Thompson, after- 
wards Secretary of the Continental Congress ; " The sun of 
liberty is set ; the Americans must light the lamps of industry 
and economyy To which Mr. Thompson answered ; " Be 
assured we shall light torches of quite another sort." 

The determined and universal opposition to the stamp act 
in America, soon convinced Parliament that it must either 
be enforced or repealed. The King, either alarmed or not 
quite tyrant enough yet to resort to force, changed his min- 
isters, and the Marquis of Rockingham, a man of great 
vigour and genius and of a sincere character, was appointed 
First Lord of the Treasury in place of Grenville. 

The year 1765 approaching its conclusion, the parliament 
was convoked. But meeting again in January 1766, the 
new ministers, passionately desirous of obtaining a revoca- 
tion of the stamp act, made every exertion to accomplish 
this great object. 

In addition to their numerous preparatives, they resolved 



200 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1766. 



to employ Benjamin Franklin, whose great reputation, the 
candour of his character, the services rendered to his coun- 
try and the world, would give his opinions great weight. 
The galleries were crowded to hear him speak on this en- 
grossing subject. He was interrogated, during the debates, 
in the presence of the House of Commons. He answered 
with gravity and perfect composure. 

" The Americans," said he, " already pay taxes on all 
estates, real and personal ; a poll tax ; a tax on all offices, 
professions, trades, and businesses, according to their profits ; 
an excise on all wine, rum, and other spirits ; and a duty of 
ten pounds per head on all negroes imported ; with some 
other duties. The assessments upon real and personal estates 
amount to eighteen pence in the pound ; and those upon the 
profits of employment, to half a crown. The colonies could 
not in any way pay the stamp duty ; there is not gold and 
silver enough in all the colonies to pay the stamp duty even 
for one year. The Germans [and Swiss] who inhabit Penn- 
sylvania [and who converted Penn's woods into a garden] are 
more dissatisfied with this duty than the native colonists 
themselves. The Americans, since the new laws, have abated 
much of their affection for Great Britain, and of their respect 
for parliament. There exists a great difference between in- 
ternal and external duties ; duties laid on commodities im- 
ported have no other effect than to raise the price of these 
articles in the American market ; they make, in fact, a part 
of this price ; but it is optional with the people either to buy 
them or not, and consequently to pay the duty or not. But 
an internal tax is forced from the people without their own 
consent, if not laid by their own representatives. The stamp 
act says, we shall have no commerce, make no exchange of 
property with each other, neither purchase, nor grant, nor 
recover debts, we shall neither marry, nor make our wills, 
unless we pay such and such sums ; and thus it is intended 
to extort our money from us, or ruin us by the consequences 
of refusing to pay it. The American colonists could, in a 
short time, find in their own manufactures the means of suf- 
ficing to themselves. The repeal of the stamp act would ' 



1766.] REVOLUTION. 201 

restore tranquillity, and things would resume their pristine 
course." 

This speech was a powerful support to the new ministers ; 
but the advocates of the unjust law collected all their strength 
to oppose its repeal. After a long and warm debate, and 
when the period of a decision was drawing near, George 
Grenville, who, when prime minister, had first proposed the 
stamp act in parliament, arose and spoke as follows : 

" If I could persuade myself that the pride of opinion, the 
spirit of party, or the affection which man usually bears to 
things done by himself, had so fascinated my intellectual 
sight and biassed the faculties of my n>ind, as to deprive me 
of all power to see and distinguish that which is manifest, I 
certainly, on this occasion, should have entrenched myself in 
silence, and thus displayed, if not my zeal for the public ser- 
vice, at least my prudence and discretion. But, as the affair 
now before us has been the subject of my most attentive con- 
sideration, and of my most deliberate reflection, at the period 
when the general tranquillity was uninterrupted by scanda- 
lous excesses ; and as from a contingency for which I claim 
no merit, it appears that to my honour and reputation the 
honour and dignity of the kingdom are attached, my prudence 
might be reputed coldness, and my discretion a base de- 
sertion. 

*' But where is the public, where is the private man, what- 
ever may be his moderation, who is not roused at the present 
dangers which so imminently threaten the safety of our 
country ? Who does not put forth all his strength to avert 
them ? And who can help indulging the most sinister anti- 
cipation, in contemplating the new counsels and fatal inac- 
tivity of the present servants of the crown? A solemn law 
has been enacted in parliament, already a year since. It 
was, and still is, the duty of ministers to carry it into effect. 
The constitution declares, that to suspend a law, or the exe- 
cution of a law, by royal authority, and without consent of 
parliament, is felony ; in defiance of which, this law has been 
suspended — has been openly resisted — but did I say resisted ? 

Your delegates are insulted, their houses are pillaged ; even 
_ 



202 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1766. 

their persons are not secure from violence ; and, as if to pro- 
voke your patience, you are mocked and braved under the 
mouths of your artillery. Your ears are assailed from every 
quarter with protestations that obedience cannot, shall not, 
ought not to be rendered to your decrees. Perhaps other 
ministers, more old-fashioned, would have thought it their 
duty, in such a case, to lend the law the aid of force ; thus 
maintaining the dignity of the crown, and the authority of 
your deliberations. But those young gentlemen who sit on 
the opposite benches, and no one knows how, look upon these 
principles as the antiquated maxims of our simple ancestors, 
and disdain to honour with their attention mere acts of riot, 
sedition, and open resistance. With a patience truly exem- 
plary, they recommend to the governors lenity and modera- 
tion ; they grant them permission to call in the aid of three 
or four soldiers from General Gage, and as many cock-boats 
from Lord Colvil ; they commend them for not having em- 
ployed, to carry the law into effect, the means which had 
been placed in their hands. Be prepared to see that the se- 
ditious are in the right, and that we only are in fault ; such, 
assuredly, is the opinion of the ministers. And who could 
doubt it ? They have declared themselves, they incessantly 
repeat it in your presence. It is but too apparent that, much 
against their will, they have at length laid before you the 
disorders and audacious enormities of the Americans ; for 
they began in July, and now we are in the middle of Janu- 
ary ; lately, they were only occurrences — they are now grown 
to disturbances, tumults and riots. I doubt they border on 
open rebellion ; and if the doctrine I have heard this day be 
confirmed, I fear they will lose that name, to take that of 
revolution. May Heaven bless the admirable resignation of 
our ministers ; but I much fear we shall gather no fruits from 
it of an agreeable relish. Occasion is fleeting, the danger is 
urgent ; and this undisciplinable people, the amiable object 
of their fond solicitude, of their tender care, are forming 
leagues, are weaving conspiracies, are preparing to resist the 
orders of the king and of the parliament. Continue then, ye 
men of long suffering, to march in the way you have chosen ; 



1766.] REVOLUTION. 203 

even repeal the law ; and see how many agents you will find 
zealous in the discharge of their duty, in executing the laws 
of the kingdom, in augmenting the revenues and diminishing 
the burthens of your people ; see, also, how many ministers 
you will find, who, for the public service, will oppose a noble 
and invincible firmness against the cabals of malignity, 
against the powerful combination of all private interests, 
against the clamours of the multitude, and the perversity of 
faction. In a word, if you would shiver all the springs of 
government, repeal the law. 

"I hear it asserted, from every quarter, by these defenders 
of the colonists, that they cannot be taxed by authority of 
Parliament, because they are not there represented. But if 
so, why, and by what authority, do you legislate for them at 
all 1 If they are represented, they ought to obey all laws of 
Parliament, whatsoever, whether of the nature of taxes, or 
any other, whatever. If they are not, they ought neither to 
submit to tax laws, nor to any other. And if you believe the 
colonists ought not to be taxed, by authority of Parliament, 
from defect of representation, how will you maintain that 
nine-tenths of the inhabitants of this kingdom, no better 
represented than the colonists, ought to submit to your taxa- 
tion ? The Americans have taken a hostile attitude towards 
the mother country, and you would not only forgive their 
errors, dissemble their outrages, remit the punishment due, 
but surrender at discretion, and acknowledge their victory 
complete ! Is this preventing popular commotions ? Is this 
repressing tumults and rebellion 1 Is it not rather to foment 
them, to encourage them to supply fresh fuel to the conflagra- 
tion? Let any man, not blinded by the spirit of party, judge 
and pronounce. I would freely listen to the counsels of clem- 
ency, I would even consent to the abrogation of the law, if 
the Americans had requested it in a decent mode;[!] but 
their modes are outrages, derision, and the ways of force ; 
pillage, plunder, arms, and open resistance to the will of gov- 
ernment. It is a thing truly inadmissible, and altogether 
new, that, at any moment, whenever the fancy may take 
them, or the name of a law shall happen to displease them, 



204 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1766. 



these men should at once set about starving our manufacturers, 
and refuse to pay what they owe to the subjects of Great 
Britain. The officers of the crown, in America, have repeat- 
edly solicited, and earnestly entreated, the ministers to fur- 
nish them with proper means to carry the law into effect ; 
but the latter have disregarded their instances ; and, by this 
negligence, the American tumults have taken the alarming 
character we see. And shall we now suffer the ministers to 
come and allege the effects of their own neglect, to induce us 
to sacrifice the best interests of this kingdom, the majesty, 
the power, and even the reputation of the government, to an 
evil, overgrown indeed, but not past cure, the moment a suit- 
able resolution is demonstrated to bring this infatuated mul- 
titude to a sense of duty 1 But again, if the colonists are 
exempted, by their constitutions, from parliamentary taxes, 
as levies of seamen have been either prohibited or restricted 
in America, by different acts of Parliament, it follows, of 
necessity, that they are not bound either to furnish men for 
the defence of the common country, or money to pay them ; 
and that England, alone, must support the burthen of the 
maintenance and protection of these, her ungrateful children. 
If such a partiality should be established, it must be at the 
hazard of depopulating this kingdom, and of dissolving that 
original compact upon which all human societies repose. 

" But I hear these subtle doctors attempting to inculcate a 
fantastical distinction between external and internal taxes, 
as if they were not the same as to the effect — that of taking 
money from the subjects for the public service. Wherefore, 
then, these new counsels ? When I proposed to tax America, 
I asked the house if any gentleman would object to the right ? 
I repeatedly asked it ; and no man would attempt to deny it. 
And tell me when the Americans were emancipated. When 
they want the protection of this kingdom, they are always 
very ready to ask it. This protection has always been af- 
forded them in the most full and ample manner ; and now 
they refuse to contribute their mite towards the public ex- 
penses. For, let not gentlemen deceive themselves with 
regard to the rigour of the tax ; it would not suffice even for 



1766.] REVOLUTION. 205 



the necessary expenses of the troops stationed in America ; 
but a peppercorn in acknowledgment of the right, is of more 
value than millions without. Yet, notwithstanding the 
slightness of the tax, and the urgency of our situation, the 
Americans grow sullen, and instead of concurring in expenses 
arising from themselves, they renounce your authority, insult 
your officers, and break out, I might almost say, into open 
rebellion. 

" There has been a time when they would not have pro- 
ceeded thus ; but they are now supported by ministers more 
American than English. Already, by the artifice of these 
young gentlemen, inflammatory petitions are handed about 
against us, and in their favour. Even within this house, 
even in this sanctuary of the laws, sedition has found its de- 
fenders. Resistance to the laws is applauded, obstinacy 
encouraged, disobedience extolled, rebellion pronounced a 
virtue ! Oh, more than juvenile imprudence ! Oh, blind am- 
bition of the human mind ! But you give a fatal example ; 
you will soon have ample cause to repent your own work. 

'* And thou, ungrateful people of America, is this the return 
for the cares and fondness of thy ancient mother ? [A step- 
mother, I presume !] When I had the honour of serving the 
crown, while you yourselves were loaded with an enormous 
debt, you have given bounties on their lumber, on their iron, 
their hemp, and many other articles. You have relaxed, in 
their favour, the act of navigation, that palladium of the 
British commerce ; and yet I have been abused, in all the 
public papers, as an enemy to the trade of America. I have 
been charged with giving orders and instructions to prevent 
the Spanish trade. I discouraged no trade hni what was 
illicit, what was prohibited by act of Parliament. 

" But it is meant first to calumniate the man, and then de- 
stroy his work. Of myself, I will speak no more ; and the 
substance of my decided opinion upon the subject of our de- 
bates is briefly this : let the stamp act be maintained ; and 
let the governors of the American provinces be provided with 
suitable means to repress disorders, and carry the law into 
complete effect." 



206 THK ARMY AND NAVY. [1766. 



Thus spoke the advocates of royal power in opposition to 
the people's rights ; esteeming extortion and oppression as 
fundamental maxims of just government ; regarding the 
honest indignation of an injured people as the ebullition of 
an " infatuated multitude," and ridiculing the dawn of free- 
dom, that immortal spirit of light and truth, that with 9, 
mighty blaze soon burst over the length and breadth of the 
land, and which is destined to liberate a world from the 
thraldom of ages. 

No sooner had Mr. Grenville taken his seat than Mr. Pitt, 
venerable for his age and for the many services rendered to 
his country, the invariable friend of liberty and equal rights, 
rose and replied to his sophistry. 

" I know not whether I ought most to rejoice, that the 
infirmities which have been wasting, for so long a time, a 
body already bowed by the weight of years, of late suspend- 
ing their ordinary violence, should have allowed me, this day, 
to behold these walls and to discuss, in the presence of this 
august assembly, a subject of such high importance, and 
which so nearly concerns the safety of our country ; or to 
grieve at the rigour of destiny, in contemplating this country, 
which, within a few years, had arrived at such a pinnacle of 
splendour and majesty, and become formidable to the uni- 
verse from the immensity of its power, now wasted by an 
intestine evil, a prey to civil discords, and madly hastening 
to the brink of the abyss, into which the united force of the 
most powerful nations of Europe struggled in vain to plunge 
it. Would to heaven that my health had permitted my 
attendance here, when it was first proposed to tax America ! 
If my feeble voice should not have been able to avert the tor- 
rent of calamities which has fallen upon us, and the tempest 
which threatens us, at least my testimony would have attested 
that I had no part in them. 

" It is now an act that has passed ; I would speak with 
decency of every act of this house, but I must beg the indul- 
gence of the house to speak of it with freedom. Assuredly, 
a more important subject never engaged your attention, that 
subject only excepted, when, near a century ago, it was the 



1760.] REVOLUTION. 207 



question whether you yourselves were to be bond or free. 
Those who have spoken before me with so much vehemence, 
would maintain the act because our honour demands it. If 
gentlemen consider the subject in that light, they leave all 
measures of right and wrong to follow a delusion that may 
lead to destruction. But can the point of honour stand op- 
posed against justice, against reason, against right ? Wherein 
can honour better consist than in doing reasonable things ? 
It is my opinion that England has no right to tax the colonies. 
At the same time, I assert the authority of this kingdom over 
the colonies to be sovereign and supreme, in every circum- 
stance of government and legislation whatsoever. The colo- 
nists are the subjects of this kingdom, equally entitled with 
yourselves to all the natural rights of mankind, and the pe- 
culiar privileges of Englishmen; equally bound by its laws, 
and equally participating of the constitution of this free 
country. The Americans are the sons, not the bastards, of 
England. Taxation is no part of the governing or legislative 
power. The taxes are a voluntary gift and grant of the 
commons alone. In legislation, the three estates of the realm 
are alike concerned ; but the concurrence of the peers and 
the crown to a tax, is only necessary to close with the form 
of a law: the gift and grant is of the commons alone; now 
this house represents the commons, as they virtually repre- 
sent the rest of the inhabitants ; when, therefore, in this 
house, we give and grant, we give and grant what is our 
own. But in an American tax, what do we do 1 We, your 
majesty's commons of Great Britain, give and grant to your 
majesty, what 1 Our own property ? No. We give and 
grant to your majesty the property of your commons of 
America. It is an absurdity in terms. It was just now 
affirmed, that no difference exists between internal and exter- 
nal taxes, and that taxation is an essential part of legislation. 
Are not the crown and the peers equally legislative powers 
with the commons '? If taxation be a part of simple legisla- 
tion, the crown, the peers, have rights in taxation as well as 
yourselves ; rights which they will claim, which they will 
exercise, whenever the principle can be supported by power. 



208 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1766. 



" There is an idea in some, that the Americans are vir- 
tually represented in this house ; but I would fain know by 
what province, county, city, or borough, they are represented 
here ? No doubt by some province, county, city, or borough, 
never seen or known by them or their ancestors, and which 
they never will see or know. 

" The commons of America, represented in the several as- 
semblies, have ever been in possession of the exercise of this, 
their constitutional right, of giving and granting their own 
money. They would have been slaves if they had not en- 
joyed it. 

" I come not here armed at all points with law-cases, and 
acts of parliament, with the statute book doubled down in 
dog's eais, as my valiant adversary has done. But I know, 
at least, if we are to take examples from ancient facts, that, 
even under the most arbitrary reigns, Parliaments were ashamed 
of taxing a people without their consent, and allowed them 
representatives ; and in our own times, even those who send no 
members to Parliament, are all, at least, inhabitants of Great 
Britain. Many have it in their option to be actually repre- 
sented. They have connections with those that elect, and 
they have influence over them. Would to Heaven that all 
were better represented than they are ! It is the vice of our 
constitution ; perhaps the day will arrive, and I rejoice in the 
hope, when the mode of representation, this essential part of 
our civil organization, and principal safeguard of our liberty, 
will be carried to that perfection, which every good English- 
man must desire. 

" It has been asked, When were the Americans emanci- 
pated 1 But I desire to know when they were made slaves 1 

" It is said, that in this house the signal of resistance has 
been given, that the standard of rebellion has been erected ; 
and thus it is attempted to stigmatize the fairest prerogative 
of British senators, that of speaking what they think, and 
freely discussing the interests of their country. They have 
spoken their sentiments with freedom, against this unhappy 
act ; they have foreseen, they have predicted the perils that 
impend, and this frankness is imputed as a crime. Sorry I 



1766.] REVOLUTION. 209 



am to observe, that we can no longer express our opinions in 
this house, without being exposed to censure ; we must pre- 
pare for a disastrous futurity, if we do not oppose, cour- 
ageously, with our tongues, our hearts, our hands, the tyranny 
with which we are menaced. I hear it said that America 
is obstinate, America is almost in open rebellion. / rejoice 
that America has resisted. Three millions of people, so dead 
to all the feelings of liberty, as voluntarily to submit to be 
slaves, would have been fit instruments to make slaves of our- 
selves. The honourable member has said also — for he is fluent 
in words of bitterness — that America is ungrateful ; he boasts 
of his bounties towards her; but are not these bounties in- 
tended, finally, for the benefit of this kingdom 1 And how is 
it true that America is ungrateful ? Does she not voluntarily 
hold a good correspondence with us ? The profits to Great Bri- 
tain, from her commerce with the colonies, are 2,000,000 pounds a 
year. This is the fund that carried you triumphantly through 
the last war. The estates that were rented at 2000 pounds 
a year, seventy years ago, are at 3000 pounds at present. 
You owe this to America. This is the price she pays for your 
protection. I omit the increase of population in the colonies ; 
the migration of new inhabitants from every part of Europe ; 
and the ulterior progress of American commerce, should it 
be regulated by judicious laws. And shall we hear a mise- 
rable financier come with a boast that he can fetch a pepper- 
corn into the exchequer, to the loss of millions to the nation ? 
The gentleman complains that he has been misrepresented 
in the public prints. I can only say it is a misfortune 
common to all that fill high stations, and take a leading part 
in public aflfairs. He says, also, that when he first asserted 
the right of Parliament to tax America, he was not contra- 
dicted. I know not how it is, but there is a modesty in this 
house, which does not choose to contradict a minister. If 
gentlemen do not get the better of this modesty, perhaps the 
collective body may begin to abate of its respect for the re- 
presentative. A great deal has been said without doors, and 
more than is discreet, of the power, of the strength of Ame- 
rica. But, in a good cause, on a sound bottom, the force of 

§7 —^ 



210 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1766-7. 



this country can crush America to atoms ; but, on the ground 
of this tax, when it is wished to prosecute an evident injustice, 
I am one who will lift my hands and voice against it. 

" In such a cause, your success would be deplorable, and 
victory hazardous. America, if she fell, would fall like the 
strong man. She would embrace the pillars of the state, and 
pull down the constitution along with her. Is this your 
boasted peace ? not to sheathe the sword in its scabbard, but 
to sheathe it in the bowels of your countrymen ? Will you 
quarrel with yourselves, now the whole house of Bourbon is 
united against you 1 while France disturbs your fisheries in 
Newfoundland, embarrasses your slave-trade with Africa, and 
withholds from your subjects in Canada their property stipu- 
lated by treaty ? while the ransom for the Manillas is de- 
nied by Spain, and its gallant conqueror traduced into a mean 
plunderer ? The Americans have not acted in all things with 
prudence and temper. They have been wronged. They 
have been driven to madness by injustice. Will you punish 
them for the madness you have occasioned ? Rather let 
prudence and benignity come first from the strongest side. 
Excuse their errors, learn to honour their virtues. Upon the 
w^hole, I will beg leave to tell the house what is really my 
opinion. I consider it most consistent with our dignity, most 
useful to our liberty, and in every respect the safest for this 
kingdom, that the stamp act be repealed, absolutely, totally, 
and immediately. At the same time, let the sovereign autho- 
rity of this country over the colonies be asserted in as strong 
terms as can be devised, and be made to extend to every 
point of legislation whatsoever ; that we may bind their trade, 
confine their manufactures, and exercise every power what- 
soever, except that of taking their money out of their pockets 
without their consent." 

These words, from a man of such great authority, produced 
a powerful effect upon the minds of his hearers ; and the ques- 
tion being put, on the 22d of February, the repeal of the 
stamp act was carried. Accompanying the repealing act, 
was a declaratory act, the language of which was, " that 
Parliament have, and of right ought to hn.\e, power to hind the 



1766-9.] REVOLUTION. 211 

colonies in all cases whatsoever." The news of the revocation 
of the stamp act was received in America with indescribable 
joy and exultation, and Pitt became the object of boundless 
praises, although he had, in strong terms, advocated the 
authority of Parliament over the colonies ; they believed this 
was intended merely to soothe British pride and heal its 
wounded dignity. 

The king, who had very reluctantly consented to the repeal 
of the stamp act, still cherished the favourite scheme of tax- 
ation. Apother change of ministry took place. The Duke 
of Grafton was appointed first Secretary of the Treasury, in 
the place of the Marquis of Rockingham ; the Earl of She- 
burne. Secretary of State ; Charles Townsend, Chancellor of 
the Exchequer, and, finally, William Pitt, now Earl of Chat- 
ham, was promoted to the charge of Keeper of the Seals. 

In 1767, a bill passed the Parliament to impose certain 
duties on tea, glass, and paints, brought into the colonies, 
Pitt being absent from indisposition. The duties were but 
small, but the Americans justly regarded them as small 
wedges, designed to make room for others much greater and 
heavier. This act, therefore, with some others equally unjust 
and dangerous, again spread alarm through the colonies, and 
produced resolves, petitions, addresses, remonstrances, and 
associations similar to those elicited by the stamp act. This 
determined opposition led the government to adopt the most 
rigorous measures against the colonies, and especially Massa- 
chusetts, where that opposition had taken the deepest root. 

In 1769 Parliament approved that the king should employ 
force of arms to repress the disobedient of that province, de- 
claring at the same time, that he had the right to cause the 
leaders of the disorders to be brought to England for trial, 
and requesting him to give orders to the Governor of Massa- 
chusetts to put this measure into execution. 

A greater outrage could not well be committed than to seize 
and tear a man from his country for supporting his rights, 
to be sacrificed by a jury of bigoted, prejudiced strangers. 
The colonial assemblies passed resolutions, the strongest 
that could be devised, to arrest British aggression and secure 



212 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



[1769-70. 



their rights. The king, at the same time, was conjured, as 
the father of his subjects, to interpose his royal intercession, 
and prevent men from being " forced from their firesides, 
wrested from the embraces of their families, and thrust into 
dungeons, among robbers and felons, at the distance of three 
thousand miles from their country, to linger until judges, 
whom they knew not, should have pronounced their fate." 
Pursuing such a course, the Assembly of Virginia was dis- 
solved, by the governor, with a severe reprimand. The As- 
sembly of North Carolina was dissolved by the governor of 
that province for the same reason. 

The British government, not yet satiated with acts of the 
most disgraceful character that ever stained the honour of 
an enlightened nation, sent a corrupt soldiery from Halifax 
to be stationed among the honest and high-minded people of 
Boston, and to keep them in subjection. This converted all 
Boston into a kind of volcano on the point of eruption. The 
deep thunders of indignation convulsed the town and spread 
the signal of alarm over the colonies. 

On the morning of the 2d March, 1770, a quarrel took 
place between a soldier and a rope-maker. The former, after 
a severe beating, soon returned with several of his comrades, 
when a fight ensued between the soldiers and the rope-makers, 
in which the latter were beaten. 

Such conduct in foreign troops, regarded as instruments of 
tyranny, and against whom an inveterate hatred already ex- 
isted, exasperated the people; and on the 5th, between seven 
and eight o'clock, a violent tumult broke out. The people, 
armed with clubs, rushed a living torrent into King street, 
with loud cries, "Let us drive out these ribalds ; they have 
no business here." The soldiers, who were mere hirelings 
of the king, and whose ideas of justice and humanity, proba- 
bly, seldom extended beyond the points of their bayonets, 
were eager to fall upon and murder the populace ; and their 
oflUcers, who at first restrained them, did so with the great- 
est difficulty. Cries oi fire ! fire ! fire ! to arms! to arms! 
were heard through the town ; men were running through 
the streets ; the dog rushes from his lair baying forth his 



1770-3.J REVOLUTION. 213 



deep-throated warnings ; the solemn peals of the bells fall 
upon the startled ear and arouse fearful commotions in the 
breasts of men. The sound oi fire ! fire ! fire ! again echoed 
through the town, and stirred the souls of men to acts of dar- 
ing; the people rush furiously onward, they approach the 
sentinel at the custom-house, crying, " kill him ! kill him /" 
They pelted him with snow-balls, stones, pieces of ice, or 
whatever else they could lay their hands upon. The guard 
were quickly called, who marched with arms loaded, their 
captain following them. The torrent of invective, the rage 
of the people, multitudes of whom crowded around the sol- 
diers, to the points of the bayonets, uttering fierce cries, me- 
naces, and dreadful imprecations ; the continued solemn peals 
of the alarm-bells — all conspired to fill the soldiers with awe ; 
and they stood like statues, riveted to the spot in silent horror. 

Several thousand people had assembled. They rush upon 
the soldiers, some of whom are ordered to fire. Three men 
are killed and five wounded. Lieut. -Governor Hutchinson, 
interfering, asked Captain Preston in a menacing manner, 
" JVhy have you fired without the orders of the civil magistrate V 
He answered, " We have been insulted.'''' The governor then 
persuaded the people to disperse, by a promise that the affair 
should be settled to their satisfaction. Captain Preston was 
committed to prison with some of his soldiers. Upon the 
trial, the captain and six soldiers were acquitted, ajid two 
convicted of manslaughter. The anniversary of this evening 
was for several years commemorated by the citizens of Bos- 
ton, when patriotic speeches were delivered to awaken and 
perpetuate the spirit of revolution. 

The resolutions of the meetings and associations in Ame- 
rica, to suspend the importation of tea, had occasioned the 
vast quantity of seventeen millions of pounds to accumulate 
upon the hands of the East India Company. Both the Bri- 
tish ministry and the company were deeply interested ; the 
one desirous of obtaining the expected revenue from the sale 
of the tea, the other, the usual commercial profits. They 
cunningly devised a scheme which they thought would fill 
the coffers of the one and the pockets of the other. 



214 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1773. 



The company was by law authorized to export tea free of 
duty, and as this duty had been greater than that to be paid 
on its importation into the colonies, (which had been reduced 
to three pence on the pound), the tea would be cheaper than 
before the exceptionable duty w^as laid. They had no doubt 
but that, as the tea had, in a measure, become one of the 
necessaries of life, the colonists would be eager to buy ; and 
the vessels came groaning with their loads of tea across the 
ocean to the principal harbours of this country. The colo- 
nists, awake to their interests, resolved not to pay even three 
pence as a duty ; for that would be a recognition of a law by 
which they were taxed against their will ; and the principle 
once established, would soon subject them to all the oppres- 
sion against which they had so long and so nobly contended. 
Accordingly, on the arrival of the tea at Charleston, the 
chests, though permitted to be brought to shore, were thrown 
into damp cellars, where they were suffered to spoil. Most 
of the ships landing at New York and Philadelphia were 
obliged to return with their whole cargoes. 

At Boston, an immense meeting assembled at Faneuil Hall, 
when it was resolved, by acclamation, "that the tea should 
not be landed ; that no duty should be paid ; and that it should 
be sent back in the same bottoms." 

The captain, alarmed, would have cleared for England ; 
but the governor wanted the revenue, or, at least, the English 
government wanted it, and the governor being her tool, would 
not depart from his instructions ; and, to keep the vessel in 
port, refused the clearance. This answer being reported to 
the meeting at Faneuil Hall, they immediately adjourned, 
and repaired to the wharf Some, assuming the dress of 
Mohawk Indians, went on board of the vessels, and in a few 
hours opened and emptied 342 chests of tea into the harbour. 
The Massachusetts Gazette, of 30th November, 1773, con- 
tains the following account of this Bostonian tea-party, and 
the last meeting held in that place, relative to the anathema- 
tized weed : 

" Just before the dissolution of the meeting, a number of 
brave and resolute men, dressed in the Indian manner, ap- 



1773.] REVOLUTION. 215 



preached near the door of the Assembly, and gave the war- 
whoop, which rang through the house, and was answered by 
some in the galleries ; but silence was commanded, and a 
|)eaceful deportment again enjoined till the dissolution. The 
Indians, as they were then called, repaired to the wharf 
where the ships lay, that had the tea on board, and were 
followed by hundreds of people, to see the event of the trans- 
actions of those who made so grotesque an appearance. They, 
the Indians, immediately repaired on board Captain Hall's 
ship, where they hoisted out the chests of tea, and, when on 
deck, stove the chests and hove the tea overboard. Having 
cleared this ship, they proceeded to Captain Bruce's, and then 
to Captain Coffin's brig. They applied themselves so dexter- 
ously to the destruction of this commodity, that in the space 
of three hours, they broke up 342 chests, which was the 
whole number in those vessels, and discharged their contents 
into the dock. When the tide rose, it floated the broken 
chests and the tea, insomuch that the surface of the water 
was filled therewith, a considerable way from the south part 
of the town of Dorchester Neck, and lodged on the shores. 
There icas the greatest care taken to prevent the tea from being 
purloined by the populace. One or two being detected in 
endeavouring to pocket a small quantity, were stripped of 
their acquisitions and very roughly handled. * * * The town 
was very quiet during the whole evening and the night fol- 
lowing. Those who were from the country ivent home, and the 
next day joy appeared in almost every countenance — some, on 
occasion of the destruction of the tea, others, on account of 
the quietness with which it was effected. One of the Mon- 
day's papers says, that the masters and owners are loell pleased 
that the ships ai-e thus cleared." 

In the memoirs of one of the last survivors of the tea- 
party, it is stated that John Hancock was among the speak- 
ers ; and that he advanced the opinion pretty significantly, 
not only that the governor had absolutely made up his mind 
to land the tea, but that, as things now were, the matter must 
he settled before twelve o'clock that night; and he adds, that 
one of the last things he heard said, in the final excitement. 



216 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1774. 

was Hancock's cry, " Let every man do what is right in his 
own eyes /" Some person or persons in the galleries at this 
time cried out with a loud voice, " Boston Harbour a tea- 
pot THIS NIGHT ! — Hurra for Griffin's Wharf!" 

The news of these proceedings reaching England, and be- 
ing communicated in a message from the throne, March 7, 
1774, the frantic rage and indignation of the ministerial party 
almost made them fit subjects for straight-jackets, at least if 
we have any confidence in restraint to cure madness. Their 
subsequent proceedings were in exact accordance with this 
state of mind. A bill was passed in Parliament to shut up 
Boston as a port of entry, and remove the custom-house to 
Salem; another soon followed, subverting the charter and 
vesting in the king the power of nominating all the officers 
of the colony. In a third it was provided, that any person 
indicted for a capital offence might be sent to another colony 
or to England for trial, if it should appear to the governor 
that a fair trial could not be had in that province. 

When these acts arrived, the town of Boston passed the 
following vote, of which copies were sent to the other colo- 
nies : — " That it is the opinion of this town, that, if the other 
colonies come into a joint resolution to stop all importation 
from Great Britain and the West Indies, till the act for block- 
ing up this harbour be repealed, the same will prove the sal- 
vation of North America and her liberties." 

The House of Burgesses in Virginia being in session, ap- 
pointed the 1st of June, 1774, the day when the "Boston Port 
Bill" was to take effect, as a day of fasting, humiliation and 
prayer. The example was followed in all other parts of the 
country. On such a day the people's thoughts would natu- 
rally be occupied with the accumulated wrongs of the mother 
country ; and, independently of addressing the Arbiter of 
nations to aid them in the righteous cause in which they 
were about to engage, they would prepare to do their part. 

Meetings were held in every part of the continent, and 
letters and addresses were sent to Boston, encouraging the 
inhabitants with an assurance of the co-operation and sup- 
port of her sister provinces. 



1774.] REVOLUTION. 217 



In the mean time, measures had been taken to elect depu- 
ties to represent the respective provinces in a Continental 
Congress. On the 4th of September, deputies from eleven 
different colonies assembled at Philadelphia, and elected for 
President, Peyton Randolph of Virginia, and Charles Thom- 
son, Secretary. 

" High on the foremost seat, in living light, 
Resplendent Randolph caught the world's full sight. 
He opes the cause, and points in prospect far 
Through all the toils that wait impending war : 
But, reverend sage ! thy race must soon be o'er, 
To lend thy lustre and to shine no more. 
So the mild morning star, from shades of even, 
Leads up the dawn and lights the front of heaven ; 
Points to the waking world the sun's broad way, 
Then veils his own, and vaults above the day." 

The acts of this patriotic assembly were, to vote that the 
contributions already made to relieve Boston should be con- 
tinued as long as necessary ; a declaration of rights and 
grievances ; a recommendation to the merchants to stop all 
imports from Great Britain ; a letter to General Gage, then 
Governor of Massachusetts ; a petition to the king ; an ad- 
dress to the people of Great Britain ; one to the inhabitants 
of the colonies ; and one to the people of Canada. These 
were all masterly compositions, full of wisdom, firmness 
and patriotism; exciting the admiration of the greatest 
statesmen, while those narrow-minded bigots of England, 
who had been accustomed to speak of the wisdom and spirit 
of the colonists with profound contempt, were almost struck 
dumb with amazement. In less than eight weeks this con- 
gress adjourned, to meet again on the 10th of the ensuing 
May, unless their grievances should be previously redressed. 

A part of the address of the Continental Congress to the 
people of England, will serve to demonstrate the prevailinc^ 
opinions, the ardent feelings, and the firm resolve under 
which the people of America spoke and acted, during this 
epoch, while supporting their glorious cause. 

" When a nation, led to greatness by the hand of liberty, 
and possessed of all the glory that heroism, munificence, and 

28 T 



218 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1774. 



humanity can bestow, descends to the ungrateful task of 
forging chains for her friends and children, and instead of 
giving support to freedom, turns advocate for slavery and 
oppression, there is reason to suspect she has either ceased to 
be virtuous, or been extremely negligent in the appointment 
of her rulers. 

" In almost every age, in repeated conflicts, in long and 
bloody wars, as well civil as foreign, against many and 
powerful nations, against the open assaults of enemies, and 
the more dangerous treachery of friends, have the inhabitants 
of your island, your great and glorious ancestors, maintained 
their independence, and transmitted the rights of men, and 
the blessings of liberty, to you their posterity. Be not sur- 
prised, therefore, that we, who are descended from the same 
common ancestors ; that we, whose forefathers participated 
in all the rights, the liberties, and the constitution you so 
justly boast of, and who have carefully conveyed the same 
fair inheritance to us, guarantied by the plighted faith of 
government, and the most solemn compacts with British sove- 
reigns, should refuse to surrender* them to men who found 
their claims on no principles of reason, and who prosecute them 
with a design, that by having aur lives and property in their 
power, they may with the greatest facility enslave you. The 
cause of America is now the object of universal attention ; it 
has, at length, become very serious. This unhappy country 
has not only been oppressed, but abused and misrepresented ; 
and the duty we owe to ourselves and posterity, to your in- 
terest, and the general welfare of the British empire, leads us 
to address you on this very important subject. 

" Know, then, that we consider ourselves, and do insist 
that we are, and ought to be, as free as our fellow-subjects in 
Britain, and that no power on earth has a right to take our 
property from us without our consent. That we shall claim 
all the benefits secured to the subject by the English constitu- 
tion, and particularly, that inestimable one of trial by jury. 
That we hold it essential to English liberty, that no man be 
, condemned unheard, or punished for supposed offences, with- 
I out having an opportunity of making his defence. That we 



1774.] REVOLUTION. 219 



think the legislature of Great Britain is not authorized by 
the constitution to establish a religion [in Canada] fraught 
with sanguinary and impious tenets, or to erect an arbitrary 
form of government in any quarter of the globe." 

" Admit/' say they, in another place, " that the ministry, 
by the powders of Britain, and the aid of our Roman Catholic 
neighbours, should be able to carry the point of taxation, and 
reduce us to a state of perfect humiliation and slavery ; such 
an enterprise would, doubtless, make some addition to your 
national debt, which already presses down your liberties, and 
fills you with pensioners and placemen. 

***#*#**♦* 

" We believe there is yet much virtue, much justice, and 
much public spirit in the English nation. To that justice we 
now appeal. You have been told that we are seditious, im- 
patient of government, and desirous of independency ; but 
these are mere calumnies. Permit us to be as free as your- 
selves, and we shall ever esteem a union with you to be our 
greatest glory and our greatest happiness. But, if you are 
determined that your ministers shall wantonly sport with the 
liberties of mankind ; if neither the voice of justice, the dic- 
tates of the law, the principles of the constitution, or the 
suggestions of humanity, can restrain your hands from shed- 
ding human blood in such an impious cause, we must then tell 
you, that we shall never submit to be hewers of wood or 
drawers of water for any minister or nation in the world." 

The address of Congress to the American people was a 
statement of their grievances; a proof of the justice of their 
cause ; well calculated to confirm them in their resistance to 
their oppressors, and prepare their minds for the worst. They 
said that, " the schemes agitated against the colonies have been 
so conducted as to render it prudent that you should extend 
your views to mournful events, and be in all respects prepay-ed 
for every contingency" The people took the hint, and ex- 
tended their views to mournful events, by forming themselves 
into companies, and practising military discipline. 

The Assembly of Massachusetts met at Salem, October 5, 
and the governor withholding the light of his countenance. 



220 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1774. 



they adjourned to Concord, where they formed themselves 
into a provincial Congress, and elected John Hancock their 
president. They now adjourned to Cambridge, where they 
drew up a plan to defend the province, by preparing muni- 
tions of war, filling magazines with provisions, enlisting men, 
appointing officers, &c. 

This provincial Congress met again in November, when it 
was resolved that 12,000 men should be raised to act on any 
emergency. They also enrolled one-fourth part of the mili- 
tia, whom they called minute-men, to be held in readiness to 
march at a minute's notice. At the same time the neighbour- 
ing states were requested to increase this army to 20,000 
men. 

All these resolutions, both of the Continental Congress and 
of the local Assemblies, were approved and strictly carried 
into effect by the people. Their meetings and union of their 
representatives produced a liberal interchange of ideas be- 
tween the remote parts of the colonies, — formed a moral bond 
of union, — produced a spirit of laudable emulation, and im- 
proved the moral, political, and intellectual condition of the 
whole country. The principles of justice and honour distin- 
guished all the acts of these newly constituted authorities, 
the agents of the people, who now, according to the natural 
rights of man, constituted the government. 

" What constitutes a state ? 
Not high-raised battlements or labour'd mounds, 

Thick wall or moated gate ; 
Not cities proud, with spires and turrets crown'd ; 

Not bays and broad-arm'd ports, 
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride ; 

Not starr'd and spangled courts. 
Where low-brow'd baseness wafls perfume to pride, 

No ; — men ; high-minded men : — 
Men, who their duties know, 

But know their rights, and, knowing, dare maintain ; 
Prevent the long-aim'd blow, 

And crush the tyrant while they rend the chain ; 
These constitute a state." 

Two regiments of infantry, with several pieces of cannon, 



1774. j REVOLUTION. 221 



had followed the arrival of General Gage, and were quartered 
in Boston. These were reinforced by several regiments from 
Halifax, Ireland, Quebec, and New York, to crush at once 
the spirit of liberty that was about to kindle into a wide- 
spread conflagration. But " if the true spark of civil and 
religious liberty be kindled, it will burn ; human agency can- 
not extinguish it : like the earth's central fire, it may be 
smothered for a time ; the ocean may overwhelm it ; moun- 
tains may press it down ; but its inherent and unconquerable 
force will heave both the ocean and the land, and at some 
time or another, in some place or another, the volcano will 
break out and flame up to heaven." 

Many of the people, being experienced huntsmen, pre- 
pared for war with the greater facility, and were able to use 
the rifle with great advantage. Drums and fifes were now 
everywhere heard ; balls were cast in almost every house, 
and the martial scenes exhibited by training were attended 
by the people of all ages and conditions. Even the ladies, 
as is usual on all occasions that try men^s souls, animated and 
encouraged the patriots with their presence ; assisted in the 
preparations for war, and shared the extreme sufferings to 
which the colonists were subjected, 

" With tears for naught but other's ills. 
And then they flowed like mountain rills.' 

" Oh, woman 1 in our hours of ease, 
Uncertain, coy, and hard to please, 
And variable as the shade 
By the light quivering aspen made ; 
When pain and anguish wring the brow, 
A ministering angel thou !" 

The governor, who had already excited the indignation of 
the people, by placing a guard upon the isthmus which con- 
nects the peninsula on which Boston is situated with the 
main land, now commenced fortifying the isthmus, to intimi- 
date the people and prevent them from transporting arms 
from the town into the country. He next seized the powder 
that was stored in the magazine in Charlestown, adjoining 
Boston, apprehensive that the people might take possession 



222 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1774-5. 



of it during the annual review of the militia, which was ap- 
proaching. These proceedings were regarded as acts of hos- 
tility, and excited the rage of the people to the highest de- 
gree. They seized their arms, assembled from every quarter, 
and hastened to Cambridge. They would at once have 
marched to Boston, had they not been restrained by the pru- 
dence of some of their leaders. 

A report was soon after circulated that hostilities had com- 
menced in Boston, by the fleet and garrison firing upon the 
town, and that the Bostonians were defending themselves. 
The rumour was heard with avidity and circulated with sur- 
prising rapidity through every part of the province. 

The farmer stops his plough in the field, seizes his gun, 
while he breathes retributive vengeance against the oppress- 
ors ; the mechanic throws down his hammer and obeys the 
call of freedom ; the labourer abandons his shovel, spade or 
axe for the weapon of war ; the merchant forsakes his coun- 
ter, the lawyer his desk, the physician his patient — from the 
hills and the valleys they come ; from the hamlet and the 
cottage they issue forth — all hurrying promiscuously towards 
the supposed scene of action ; and in a few hours 30,000 men 
were under arms. 

" Thus, breathing death, in terrible array 
The close-compacted legions urged their way : 
Fierce they drove on, impatient to destroy ; 
******** 
As from some mountain's craggy forehead torn, 
A rock's round fragment flies, with fury borne, 
(Which from the stubborn stone a torrent rends,) 
Precipitate the ponderous mass descends, 
From steep to steep the rolling ruin bounds ; 
At every shock the crackling wood resounds ; 
Still gathering force, it smokes, and, urged amain, 
Whirls, leaps, and thunders down, impetuous to the plain : 
There stops" — 

So this armed multitude stops ; but not until they are satis- 
fied that the report of the attack on Boston is unfounded. 

Every province had now become the theatre of popular 
commotions, and a general scrambling took place between 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 223 



the adverse governments for the powder. At Portsmouth, 
New Hampshire, the provincials stormed the fort, carrying 
off the powder and artillery. In Rhode Island a similar 
course was pursued ; at Newport the people rose in their 
majesty, and took forty pieces of cannon which defended the 
harbour, fully convinced that the language of these would 
be the only effectual argument against the tyranny of their 
relentless oppressors. 



CHAPTER II. 

Efforts of Parliament — Pitt's conciliatory Bill — People of Massachusetts de- 
clared Rebels — Violent Commotions in America — Battle of Lexington — Flight of 
Adams and Hancock — Provincial Congress of Massachusetts — Address to the 
People of England — Army of 30,000 Men blockade Boston. 

" And, as a lover liails the dawn 

Of a first smile, so welcomed they 
The sparkle of the first sword drawn 
For vengeance and for liberty !" 
" Oh ! what an ever-glorious morning is tliis !" 
The omnipotence of Parliament and the impotence of Lord 
North, prime minister, were still exerted to subdue the " dar- 
ing spirit of resistance and disobedience" in the colonies, 
while Mr. Pitt, who after a long absence had resumed his 
seat in the House of Lords, introduced a conciliatory bill, and 
supported it and the people of America in a long and elo- 
quent discourse ; but the ministers obtained a majority and 
the bill was lost. The inhabitants of Massachusetts were 
soon after declared rebels, which was equivalent to declaring 
war against them. The object of treating this province with 
such rigour was to separate her from the rest ; but the very 
measures that were adopted to separate the colonies cemented 
their union for mutual protection and defence. The rights 
of one were the rights of all ; to submit to the enslaving of 
a sister province, would be a tacit recognition of the right of 
England to enslave the rest. 

The news having arrived of the king's speech against the 
colonists at the opening of Parliament, the resolutions of that 



224 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



body, and of the act declaring the people of Massachusetts 
rebels, all the inhabitants of the province seized their arms. 
" Indignation became fury — obstinacy, desperation. All idea 
of reconciliation had become chimerical ; necessity stimu- 
lated the most timid ; a thirst for vengeance fired every 
breast. The match is lighted — the materials disposed — the 
conflagration impends," vehile the sister colonies console and 
encourage them with a full assurance of their assistance 
through the impending war. 

" In these arms," said they, " in our right hands, are placed 
the hope of safety, the existence of country, the defence of 
property, the honour of our wives and daughters. With 
these alone can we repulse a licentious soldiery, protect what 
man holds dearest upon earth, and unimpaired transmit our 
rights to our descendants. The world will admire our cour- 
age ; all good men will second us with their wishes and pray- 
ers, and celebrate our names with immortal praises. Our 
memory will become dear to posterity. It will be the example, 
as the hope of freemen, and the dread of tyrants, to the latest 
ages. It is time that old contaminated England should be 
made acquainted with the energies of America, in the prime 
and innocence of her youth ; it is time she should know how 
much superior are our soldiers in courage and constancy to 
vile mercenaries. We must look back no more ! We must 
conquer or die ! We are placed between altars smoking with 
the most grateful incense of glory and gratitude, on the one 
part, and blocks and dungeons on the other. Let each then 
rise, and gird himself for the combat ; the dearest interests 
of this world command it; our most holy religion enjoins it ; 
that God, who eternally rewards the virtuous and punishes 
the wicked, ordains it. Let us accept these happy auguries ; 
for already the mercenary satellites, sent by wicked ministers 
to reduce this innocent people to extremity, are imprisoned 
within the walls of a single city, where hunger emaciates 
them, rage devours them, death consumes them. Let us 
banish every fear, every alarm; fortune smiles upon the 
efforts of the brave !" 

On the 19th of April, 1775, the first blow was struck, with 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 225 



a heavy arm, in the war of the Revolution, and Lexington, 
in Massachusetts, stands first on the list of the battle-grounds, 
the hallowed spots where British tyranny over our country 
was crushed, and American freedom was exalted before an 
astonished world. 

General Gage, having been informed that the agents of the 
provincial government had purchased a large quantity of 
arms and ammunition, and deposited them at Concord, 
eighteen miles from Boston, conceived the design of sending 
a few companies to destroy them; and, as many believed, at 
the same time, to take John Hancock and Samuel Adams. 
To insure the success of the expedition. General Gage acted 
with great caution and p|;ofound secrecy. He ordered a 
number of officers to go, as if on a party of pleasure, on the 18th 
of April ; dine at Cambridge, on the way to Concord, and 
then dispose themselves along the road in the night, to inter- 
cept any messengers that might be sent by the patriots to 
give their fellow-citizens notice of the impending danger. 
The governor, at the same time, gave orders that none of the 
inhabitants should be allowed to leave the town. 

The troops, commanded by Colonel Smith, were embarked 
at Boston, at 11 o'clock at night, on the 18th; conveyed in 
boats up the Charles river, to a place called Phipp's Farm, 
where they landed in the night, and proceeded on their march 
to Concord, taking every precaution to prevent the people of 
the country from being apprized of their march, even securing 
such persons as they met in their route. 

Notwithstanding all their precautions, the provincials, hav- 
ing their eyes open, could see just as far into a military 
movement as General Gage, the king's governor. The Bos- 
tonians had already warned Adams and Hancock to retire 
from danger ; and Doctor Warren, one of the leaders among 
the patriots, discovering the scheme, had despatched messen- 
gers to Lexington, a town on the road leading to Concord. 
Some of these messengers were forbidden to pass the officers 
stationed along the road, but others eluded their vigilance 
and made their way to Lexington. The secret was divulged, 
and intelligence spread, as rapidly as sound could carry it, by 

29 



226 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



the ringing of the bells and firing of cannon ; and it was in 
the midst of this tumultuous uproar that the British troops 
had embarked at Boston. 

Major Pitcairne, who led the vanguard of Smith's detach- 
ment, reached Lexington, fifteen miles from Boston, at 5 
o'clock in the morning of the 19th. On their approach, the 
provincials hastily assembled under arms, to the number of 
about 70, on a green adjoining the road. As Pitcairne 
approached, he vociferated, " Disperse, rebels; lay down your 
arms and disperse." The people not immediately obeying 
his orders, he rushed from the ranks, fired a pistol, brandished 
his sword a la Hudibras, and ordered the soldiers to fire on 
this little party of men. Eigljt were killed and several 
wounded. They retreated, but, as the firing was continued 
by the English, the retreating party faced about and re- 
turned it. 

In the meantime, Hancock and Adams defeated one of the 
probable objects of the expedition, by retiring from the enemy; 
and as they did so, the latter exclaimed, " Oh ! what an ever- 
glorious morning is this !" The cry of blood thus ruthlessly 
spilt, he looked upon as a prelude to events that would, in the 
end, secure the freedom and happiness of his country ; and 
his soul expanded as he reflected over that patriotism that had 
just raised some of his countrymen superior to the terrors of 
death, and made them willing sacrifices to their country. 
These were the thoughts, and not an unfeeling indifference 
to the fate of others, that drew from the enraptured heart of 
that great man the ever-memorable exclamation, " Oh ! what 
an ever-glorious morning is this !" 

The soldiers now marched on to Concord. Here the militia 
again assembled upon a hill, near the entrance of the town ; 
but when they saw the number of the enemy, and the light 
infantry ascending the hill, while the grenadiers continued on 
the direct road to Concord, they fell back, crossed a bridge 
north of the town, where they intended to wait for reinforce- 
ments ; but these not arriving in time, the light infantry as- 
sailed them with great fury, and drove them back. The 
grenadiers, at the same time, were engaged in destroying the 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 227 

military stores of Concord. They threw into the river, and 
into wells, 500 pounds of bullets ; spiked two pieces of cannon, 
and wasted some flour. 

The minute-men now arrived, and with the militia who 
had retreated over the bridge, and 

" who 

Knew when and how to cut and come again ;" 

returned — advanced boldly to the bridge, where a sharp ac- 
tion ensued across the river ; but the purpose of the expedition 
being executed, the British troops retreated precipitately 
towards Boston, their minds probably filled with sentiments 
something like the following : 

" ' God save the king !' and kings — 

For if he do n't, I doubt if men will longer — 

I think I hear a little bird, who sings, 

The people by and by will be the stronger." 

No sooner had the British commenced their retreat from 
Concord, than the volunteers, minute-men, and militia, still 
pouring in from all parts of the neighbouring country, and 
posting themselves behind trees, walls, hedges, and in the 
houses, constantly annoyed the enemy in flank and rear, 
driving them on like a flock of sheep, until they got back to 
Lexington. 

A reinforcement despatched by Governor Gage, consisting 
of sixteen companies, with two pieces of cannon, under the 
command of Lord Percy, arrived at Lexington at the same 
moment that the British troops entered the town on the op- 
posite side, with an exasperated people at their backs, who, 
but for this reinforcement, would have cut the enemy to 
pieces or made them prisoners. 

A loyalist historian says that " Lord Percy now formed his 
detachment into a square, in which he enclosed Colonel 
Smith's party, who were so much exhausted with fatigue, 
that they were obliged to lie down for rest on the ground ; 
their tongues hanging out of their mouths like those of dogs 
after a chase." We are not prepared to say how this un- 
poetical comparison and rather equivocal eulogium was 
received. 



228 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



However, after the British got their tongues in again, 
which no doubt they did after a rest, the two detachments, 
forming a junction, resumed their retreat towards Boston, 
harassed the whole way by the Americans. Although the 
rear-guard of the enemy was protected by the cannon, which 
repressed the impetuosity of the provincials, their flanks and 
front were exposed to an incessant fire. The Americans 
loaded in the woods, behind trees, hedges, or houses, ran to 
cross-roads and other places where, from their knowledge of the 
country, they knew the British had to pass, came on them 
unexpectedly, fired, hid themselves, loaded, came out and fired 
again, honouring the officers with their particular attention. 

Overwhelmed with fatigue and suffering, the king's troops, 
amounting to nearly 2000, arrived in Charlestown about sun- 
set, after travelling thirty-five miles that day ; oppressed with 
heat, almost suffocated and blinded by the dust, and, above 
all, exposed to a rather discordant prelude to the opening war 
of the Revolution. The following day they crossed over to 
Boston. The British loss during this harassing march was, 
65 killed, 136 wounded, and 49 missing. The loss of the 
provincials amounted to 88 killed, wounded, and missing. 

The indignation of the British officers and soldiers was 
unbounded after passing through this fiery ordeal of " an un- 
disciplined flock of Yankees," as they contemptuously called 
the people. 

The news of the affair at Lexington rapidly spread ; the 
war-cry rung through the land, and 

" Fell on the soul like drops of flame," 

arousing the hardy sons of freedom in the north and the 
south to manly resistance. They felt an honest pride that 
their slanderers and oppressors had been obliged to turn their 
backs, after all their ridiculous boasting, and take refuge be- 
hind the walls of a city ; and having just driven them into 
Boston, they now spoke of driving them out of that town. 
The morale of the Americans was raised to a high degree, 
and to keep the lighted torch of war in a full blaze, the obse- 
quies of the slain were celebrated with every mark of honour; 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 229 

eulogies were pronounced upon them as the martyrs of liberty, 
and they were constantly spoken of as models to be imitated 
by others. 

The provincial Congress of Massachusetts, now in session 
at Watertown, ten miles from Boston, addressed a letter to 
the people of England, with depositions to prove that the 
royal troops were the aggressors. In conclusion, they af- 
firmed their irrevocable and high resolve to resist every form 
of tyranny ; and appealing to Heaven for the justice of their 
cause, they were determined to die or he free. 

The Congress also resolved that a levy should be made in 
the province of 13,600 men, and chose for their general, 
Colonel Ward, an officer of much reputation, who had served 
in the provincial regiments during the late war. The pro- 
vincials of New Hampshire, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, 
were also in motion ; headed by General Putnam, Colonel 
Stark, and General Green, respectively. The first of these 
had served in the two late wars, where he had shown talent 
and courage. The militia poured in so fast, that an army of 
30,000 was soon assembled, forming an encampment of twelve 
miles in extent, reaching from the river Mystic on the left to 
Roxbury on the right, enclosing Boston in the centre. Gene- 
ral Ward, with the main body of about 9,000 troops, and 
four companies of artillery, occupied Cambridge, at which 
he had fixed his head-quarters ; while all the points of high 
land, the farms, and the main roads, were carefully defended. 
Lieutenant-General Thomas, whom the provincial Congress 
had appointed second in command, with 5000 troops, occu- 
pied Roxbury and Dorchester. He was distinguished for 
talents, patriotism, and military reputation. The other offi- 
cers were stationed at various places along this extended 
line. 

And now, ye hirelings of a narrow-minded bigot, what 
think you of the provincials? These are the rebels ; the un- 
worthy, mean-spirited cowards ; the contemptible militia of 
an insurgent people ! These are the men you would have 
intimidated with the pageantry of regal, parliamentary, and 
military power ! Look to your humbled position — closely 



230 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 

besieged by that same people, who now scorn your tottering 
power, and who, appealing from tyranny to God, are proud 
of the noble, the grand, the sublime death of the patriot. 
Look to your crouching lion, — the eagle will yet flap his 
wings in triumph over his mangled carcass, and the good and 
the wise in other countries will hail the happy omen of a 
world liberated from the thraldom of ages. 

" The bright day is dawning, when the West 

No more shall crouch before old England's crest ; 
When men who claim thy birthright, Liberty, 
Shall burst their leading-strings, and dare be free ; 
Nor, while they boast thy blessings, trembling stand 
Like dastard slaves before her, cap in hand." 



CHAPTER III. 

Warlike Preparations throughout the Colonies— Ticonderoga and Crown Point 
taken — Taking of Skeenesborough and Garrison. 

" In the name of the Great Jehovah, and of the Continental Congress." 

«» Why, take it ; 

I'm all submission ; what you'd have it, make it." 

While the theatre of war was in the vicinity of Boston, 
other provinces were making active preparations for doing 
their part. 

The city of New York, where the English had the most 
friends, and which had hitherto manifested such reserve, be- 
came enthusiastic in the common cause with the colonies, 
after the battle of Lexington. The inhabitants adopted the 
resolutions of the general Congress : military training was 
commenced and steadily pursued ; the arms and ammunition 
deposited in the royal magazines were seized; the women 
and children were removed from the seat of danger, and every 
preparation was made to defend themselves ; and in case of 
failure it was resolved to destroy the city by fire I This threat 
perhaps had a tendency to bring over some of the tories, as 
the adherents of the king were called, since the time of the 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 231 

" Boston port bill," to distinguish them from the whigs, who 
favoured the cause of Boston. 

In South Carolina the people received the intelligence of 
the battle of Lexington with surprise and apprehension. 
Exposed to the formidable squadrons of Great Britain along 
their entire coast, 200 miles in length, without possessing 
arms and ammunition themselves, placed them in a very cri- 
tical situation, especially as their own slaves might be bribed 
to massacre their masters. The people, however, were not 
to be intimidated by their unfavourable position, but on the 
night subsequent to the advice of the hostilities at Lexington, 
they rushed to the arsenal, took all the arms and ammunition, 
and distributed them among the soldiers in the pay of the 
province. A provincial Congress was convoked, where it was 
resolved that the Carolinas be united for the defence of their 
country, and that they were ready to march, whenever and 
wherever the Congress, whether general or provincial, should 
judge necessary. 

In New Jersey troops were levied, and the provincial trea- 
sure was taken possession of by the people to pay these 
troops. 

Maryland was in motion. The military stores and public 
magazines at Baltimore were taken by the people, in which, 
among other things, they found 1500 muskets. 

The inhabitants of Philadelphia passed such resolutions as 
they deemed best calculated to defend the common cause, 
notwithstanding the tardy movements of the Quakers, with 
their pacific ideas. The spirit, however, moved even them 
at last to lean on the side of the provincials. It may here be 
remarked that " The Assembly of Pennsylvania, convened 
about the close of the year 1774, was the first constitutional 
authority which ratified, formally, all the acts of Congress, 
and elected deputies for the ensuing. A convention having 
soon after been formed in this province, it was therein de- 
clared that, if the petition of Congress was rejected, and the 
government should persist in attempting to execute by force 
the late arbitrary acts of Parliament, it would then be requi- 
site to resist also with open force, and defend, at all hazards, 



232 THE ARMY AND NAVV. [1775. 



the rights and liberties of America. Not content with words, 
this Assembly recommended that provisions should be made 
of salt, gunpowder, saltpetre, iron, steel, and other munitions 
of war. Charles Thomson, and Thomas, afterwards General 
Mifflin, both men of great influence in the province, and 
much distinguished for their intellectual endowments, were 
very active on the occasion, and by their exertions the reso- 
lutions of the convention were executed with singular prompt- 
itude and vigour." 

The provincial Congress of Virginia, convened in the month 
of March, had recommended that volunteers should be raised 
in each county. The governor, Lord Dunmore, at these pro- 
ceedings became exceedingly indignant ; and apprehending 
the people intended to take possession of the public magazine 
at Williamsburg, he had all the powder conveyed on board 
an armed vessel, anchored in James river, in the night. The 
people, violently exasperated, flew to arms, but the municipal 
council interposing, succeeded in repressing the tumult and 
restoring tranquillity. 

The barbarous menaces of the governor to arm the blacks 
against their masters, and to destroy the city, spread the 
spirit of resistance anew like a mighty conflagration through 
the colony. Meetings were held in all the counties, where 
the conduct and menaces of the governor were denounced 
with great asperity ; and in the county of Hanover and 
around it, the people took up arms, and, commanded by Pat- 
rick Henry, one of the delegates of the general Congress, 
marched against the city of Williamsburg to demand resti- 
tution of the powder, and to secure the public treasury 
against the attempts of the governor. After some of these 
volunteers had arrived in the suburbs of the city, a parley 
was opened — tranquillity was restored for the present, and 
the people returned to their homes. 

The governor now resorted to the usual plan of tyrants or 
their agents for supporting a sinking power against reason 
and justice. He fortified his palace as strongly as possible, 
placed a garrison of marines within, and surrounded it with 
artillery ! From this palace, prison, or fortification, his lord- 



1775,] REVOLUTION. 233 

ship issued a proclamation, declaring Henry and his followers 
rebels, and attributed the present commotions to the disaffec- 
tion of the people. These were certainly not the most pru- 
dent measures to conciliate the good w ill of an insulted com- 
munity. 

The inhabitants of Connecticut, not satisfied with mere 
legislation, undertook a very important enterprise. Expect- 
ing the war to continue, and knowing the importance of occu- 
pying the fortresses of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, they 
resolved to take them by surprise. 

The first of these, standing on Lake Champlain, near the 
north end of Lake George, upon the frontier, at the very en- 
trance of Canada ; and the other near the southern extremity 
of Lake Champlain, form the gates or keys of that province; 
and w' hoever occupied these posts could prevent all commu- 
nication between it and the colonies. It was also known that 
the fortresses, though furnished with a very numerous artil- 
lery, of which the Americans were much in need, were left 
to the charge of a feeble detachment, the Governor of Canada 
not apprehending any danger. To strike such a bold blow, 
successfully, in the first w^arlike operations, would also have 
the effect of stimulating the ardour of the people. 

The troops vrere assembled at Castleton, on the great road 
to Ticonderoga, under the command of Colonel Ethan Allen. 
The greater number coming from the Green Mountains, called 
themselves Green Mountain Boys. Colonel Benedict Arnold, 
a man possessed of extraordinary genius and an intrepidity 
which at times almost resembled madness, had actually con- 
ceived the same plan. He had conferred with the committee 
of safety of Massachusetts, who appointed him Colonel, and 
gave him authority to levy soldiers. When Arnold arrived 
at (''astleton, he was very much surprised to find himself an- 
ticipated ; but determined to have a fight, at all events, he 
placed himself under the command of Colonel Allen, and 
they proceeded to execute their enterprise. 

Posting sentinels upon the roads, the commanders of the 
fortresses did not receive intelligence of their approach. If 
this precaution had been neglected, reinforcements would 

30 '7^ 



234 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1'775. 



have been drawn from the neighbouring fortress of St. John. 
Arriving at lake Champlain in the night, opposite Ticonderoga, 
Allen and Arnold crossed over to the other bank, near the 
fortress. At day-break, while the garrison was yet asleep, 
they entered by the covered way, arrived upon the esplanade, 
raised a deafening shout of victory, and made all the noise 
and uproar in their power. The soldiers of the garrison 
started up from their sleep, and immediately commenced 
firing. A scuffle took place, but the British commander ap- 
pearing, Allen demanded the fort. " By what authority ?" 
asked the commander. " In the name of the Great Jehovah, 
and the Continental Congress," said Allen. Such a startling 
declaration might have overawed Cerberus himself. The 
effect was the obedience of the summons, and the surrender 
of the fort, with all its stores. Allen did not act under the 
authority of the Continental Congress, though he took the fort 
in its name. He acted under the authority of the state of 
Connecticut alone. The Americans obtained at this fort, 120 
pieces of brass cannon, several howitzers and mortars, 1 
cohorn, bombs, 10 tons of musket balls, 3 cart-loads of flints, 
30 new carriages, 30 barrels of flour, and 18 of pork, &-c. 

Crown Point was taken soon after, without difficulty, where 
over 100 pieces of artillery were found. 

With a view to control the lake, our heroes armed a 
schooner, the command of which was given to Arnold, while 
Allen was to bring on his men upon flat-boats, to take the 
only ship of the royal navy then on the lake, and which the 
English kept at anchor near fort St. John. Arnold, with a 
favourable wind, soon left the boats in the rear, and coming 
alongside of the British ship, he took possession of it without 
resistance, and returned with his prize to Ticonderoga. 

Allen, also, surprised and took Skeenesborough, with its 
garrison. Having appointed Arnold to command the fortresses 
in chief, Allen returned to Connecticut. 

If we felt disposed continually to remind the reader of our 
promise to give the war maxims of our heroes practically, we 
might here say, for Allen and Arnold, secrecy, despatch, and 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 235 



intrepid courage, are the commencement of victory. These 
were the principles by which they were governed in these 
successful enterprises. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Investment of Boston continued — Scarcity of Provisions— Reinforcement of 
Troops under Howe, Clinton, and Burgoyne — Two Plans to extricate themselves 
— Both defeated— Battle of Breed's Hill — Letter of General Gage — Observations 
in Opposition Papers in London — Eulogium on Dr. Warren. 

" And darest thou then 



To beard the lion in his den, 
The Douglass in his halll" 

" As the noise of the troubled ocean when roll the waves on high, as the 
last peal of thundering heaven, such is the noise of battle. Though Cormac's 
hundred bards were there, feeble were the voice of a hmidred bards to send 
the deaths to future times ; for many were the deaths of the heroes, and 
wide poured the blood of the valiant." 

The close investment of Boston by the provincials, and 
their exertions to intercept from the English all supplies of 
provisions, gave occasion to frequent skirmishes upon Noddle's 
and Hog Islands, both situated in the harbour of Boston, and 
to which the British frequently went in quest of provisions. 
These islands abounding in forage and cattle, the provincials 
resolved to destroy the one, and drive off the other. The 
royalists, who were fighting for subsistence, made a most 
vigorous resistance, but without any other effect than inspir- 
ing the Americans with greater confidence in themselves. 
The garrison of Boston, already suffering for want of food, 
felt the effects of these daring enterprises of the besiegers 
with peculiar severity. 

The besiegers hoped that by such proceedings the governor 
would be compelled to consent to the departure of the inhab- 
itants of Boston, who had no other resource but from the 
magazines of the king ; but the governor considering the 
people as so many hostages for the safety of his garrison, 
would not even allow the women and children to leave the 
city ; apprehensive that after their removal the Americans 



236 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 

might attempt to carry the place by assault. Pressed by 
necessity, however, General Gage at last acceded to an ar- 
rangement by which the citizens were allowed to retire from 
the city with their effects, provided they first deposited their 
arms in Faneuil Hall. They now commenced moving out of 
the city, but the governor, either unwilling to deprive himself 
entirely of hostages, or alarmed at the rumour that the in- 
surgents intended to fire the city, soon began to refuse passes. 
It has been said that in granting passports to some and not to 
others, he studied to divide families ; separating husbands 
from their wives, fathers from their children, brothers from 
each other. Such cruelty, if true, needs no comment. Those 
affected with small-pox were allowed to depart, as many sup- 
posed, with the barbarous intention of spreading the con- 
tagious disease among the rebels ! We hope, however, for 
the sake of human nature, that the spreading of this formidable 
disease throughout the province, was rather the result of 
ignorance or culpable neglect on the part of the governor, 
than any malicious intention. 

At the time of the battle of Lexington, the number of 
troops in Boston amounted to 4000, but about the end of May 
and beginning of June, the reinforcements expected by Gen- 
eral Gage arrived at Boston, with the distinguished Generals 
Howe, Clintpn, and Burgoyne, to command them ; increasing 
the army to 12,000 men. 

Encouraged by this accession of strength, burning with 
indignation at the thought that the soldiers of the king of 
England, renowned for their brilliant achievements, were now 
imprisoned in a city by those who had already made them 
turn their backs and seek safety in flight ; and being moreover 
alarmed at the increasing scarcity of food, the English troops 
were exceedingly desirous of proving their great superiority 
over the herds of American militia. The provincials invest- 
ing Boston, full of ardour and courage, inspired by a righte- 
ous cause and preceding successes, were no less eager for the 
hour of battle to arrive. 

The English generals now began to deliberate upon the 
most expedient plan of extricating themselves from this dan- 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 237 



gerous position. The situation of Boston naturally suggested 
two ways by which they might issue from the city into the 
country. 

But before we proceed, it will be necessary to aid the 
imagination of the reader by a brief sketch of the relative 
situations of Boston and Charlestown, in the latter of which 
was fought the sanguinary and ever-memorable battle of Bun- 
ker's Hill, as it is called, though the battle was really fought 
on Breed's Hill. 

There are two peninsulas ; on the one we have Boston, on 
the other, Charlestown. That of Charlestown has the shape 
of a pear, the stem uniting it to the mainland, while the end 
extends towards the harbour. Breed's Hill and Bunker's 
Hill swell out from its surface. The first of these overlooks 
Charlestown, and constitutes that part of the peninsula nearest 
to Boston, from which it is separated by the Charles river. 
Bunker's Hill is situated farther from Boston, towards Charles- 
town Neck. The Mystic or Medford river, on the north, 
washes the farther shore of this peninsula. 

" brevity is very good 

When we are, or are not understood." 

We are fully satisfied, after a careful examination of the 
singular location of Boston and Charlestown, that this short 
sketch is sufficient in a military point of view, and that a 
more minute account would only create confusion. If the 
reader ever visits Boston (if he has not done so already), let 
him go up into the tower of the State House. The janitor 
will furnish you with a very small map (that points out 
nothing), to enable you to understand the reality. 

The two ways by which the British might leave Boston 
are now very obvious ; one, to sally from Boston Neck and 
attack the American entrenchments at Roxbury ; the other, 
was to cross the Charles river, traverse that peninsula, pass 
out by its isthmus or neck, and dislodge the enemy from the 
heights near the Mystic river. This will demonstrate the 
propriety of the Americans extending their encampment from 
Roxbury to this river. 

General Gage had for some time intended to attempt the 



238 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



first plan. By issuing from the strong fortifications of Boston 
Neck, he could calculate upon a safe retreat in case he was 
defeated. Secrecy, so essential to insure success in military 
movements, was, certainly, not favoured by the detention of 
the Bostonians in their city, especially as many carried news 
to the American army by swimming across the rivers, and in 
small boats. The plan of the general, by some means, was 
made known to the Americans, who strengthened their 
entrenchments with parapets and palisades ; concentrated 
their artillery and reinforced this part of the army. These 
dreadful notes of preparation turned the attention of the 
English to the Neck of Charlestown. Again the secret was 
divulged, and strenuous endeavours were quickly made to 
defeat the new project of the enemy, who had intended to 
fortify Bunker's Hill, on the 18th of June. 

On Friday, June 16th, General Ward issued orders to 
Colonels William Prescott and Bridge, and to the commandant 
of Colonel Frye's regiment, to have their men ready for im- 
mediate service. These were all farmers, habituated to hard 
labour in the sun. A company of artillery, and 120 men 
from the Connecticut regiment, under the command of Captain 
Knowlton, were includpd in the order. Colonel Gridley was 
chief engineer. About 9 o'clock in the evening, a detachment 
of 1000 men moved from Cambridge, and passed silently over 
Charlestown Neck ; but instead of fortifying the heights of 
Bunker's Hill, Colonel Prescott, with two sergeants carrying 
dark lanterns leading the way, advanced to Breed's Hill, 
where he entrenched himself by the rules of art. 

Whether the colonel was determined to beard the lion in 
his den, or whether his fortifying Breed's Hill was really a 
mistake, as subsequently spoken of in an account of the bat- 
tle, prepared by the Massachusetts Congress, we shall not 
attempt to decide. It is certain, however, that he placed the 
garrison of Boston in the most imminent danger, and reduced 
himself and the enemy to the necessity of coming to action 
without delay. 

When the detachment had passed the neck, it was for some 
time undecided as to the position to be taken. Time^ how- 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 239 



ever, was too precious for long deliberation. The engineer 
again and again most earnestly warned the officers that longer 
delay would defeat all their operations, and when the clock 
struck twelve the work was commenced on Breed's Hill, and 
carried on with the most astonishing ardour and enthusiasm. 
What is most" surprising is, that although the peninsula was 
almost surrounded with ships of war and transports, the 
Americans worked so silently, that they were not heard. A 
guard was stationed on the Charlestown shore nearest to 
Boston to prevent surprise ; and Prescott himself went there 
and heard from the enemy's sentries, when relieving guard, 
the cry, " All's well.'* He returned to the hill, and, after a 
short interval, thinking it could not be possible that the ene- 
my were so dull of hearing, he went to the shore a second 
time, and finding all quiet, withdrew the guard, to make use 
of their hands instead of their ears, and employed them on 
the works. 

The entrenchments consisted of a redoubt and a breast- 
work, formed entirely of the earth thrown up by the spade. 
The redoubt was eight rods square, and the breastwork 
nearly four hundred feet long. 

About 4 o'clock in the morning, at break of day, the alarm 
was given at Boston, by a cannonade upon the American 
works from the ship of war Lively. The English generals 
could hardly credit their senses on finding that the provin- 
cials had anticipated them in an enterprise upon which they 
had deliberately decided ; and their energies were, for a time, 
almost paralyzed with amazement. But no time was to be 
lost. The provincials were still at work with untiring in- 
dustry ; and as the height of Breed's Hill commands Boston, 
the city was no longer tenable, if they were allowed time to 
erect a battery upon this eminence. 

A few moments before the action. Dr. Joseph Warren, a 
man of great authority and universally beloved, arrived with 
some reinforcements. He had been appointed general on the 
14th, but had not yet taken his commission. He served, 
therefore, as a volunteer. General Pomeroy, old as he was, 
borrowed a horse from General Ward, at Cambridge, to has- 



240 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775 



ten to the scene of action ; but when he arrived at Charles- 
town Neck, apprehensive that the hot fire which raked it 
might prove fatal to the borrowed horse, he gave him into 
the care of a sentry and went on foot to the field of strife, 
where he was received by the Connecticut troops, to whom 
his form and countenance were well known, with the most 
enthusiastic applause. General Putnam directed in chief, 
holding himself ready to repair to any place where his pre- 
sence was wanted. 

The dreadful preparations are witnessed by thousands of 
people on the neighbouring hills, steeples, and roofs of the 
houses, with the most intense anxiety. The British open a 
general fire of the artillery of Boston, of the fleet, and of the 
floating batteries stationed around the Boston peninsula. 
The terrible roar of the artillery shakes the dwellings far 
and near, and echoes over earth and sea ; the air is filled 
with fire, smoke and dust ; the bombs and balls fall upon the 
American works as thunderbolts hurled from the sky amid 
some unwonted and direful tempest ; but still the sons of 
freedom continue their works with unshaken constancy and 
unabating courage, perfectly consistent with the motto in- 
scribed upon their banners ; on one side of which they had 
these words, "An Appeal to Heaven," and on the other the 
motto of the State of Connecticut, " Qui transtulit sustinei," 
He who has brought us hither, preserves and supports us. 
This was the motto of their fathers after they had fled from 
tyranny to a place of refuge, and they themselves now con- 
fided in the protection of that same Providence. Hour after 
hour passed away, which still found the Americans, almost 
overcome with the excessive heat and fatigue, labour inces- 
santly, though 

" fast and hot 

Against them pour'd the ceaseless shot, 
With unahating ftiry sent ; 
******* 

And thunder-like the pealing din 
Rose from each heated culverin ; 
And here and there some crackling dome 
Was fired before the exploding bomb : 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 241 

And as the fabric sank beneath 

The shattering shell's volcanic breath, 

In red and wreathing columns flash'd 

The flame, as loud the ruin crash'd ; 

Or into countless meteors driven, 

Its earth-stars melted into heaven ; 

Whose clouds that day grew doubly dun, 

Impervious to the hidden sun, 

With volumed smoke, that slowly grew 

To one wide sky of sulphurous hue." 

This all ended in smoke, and the British generals were con- 
vinced that there remained no other hope of driving the 
Americans from their formidable position but by assault. 

" Never was horde of tyrants met 
With bloodier welcome — never yet 
To patriot vengeance hath the sword 
More terrible libations pour'd !" " 

The British troops were put in motion ; and the American 
officers reflected that the trench of their left wing, extending 
towards the Mystic river, did not reach that river, and that 
here was their most vulnerable place. They resolved to ob- 
struct this passage by two parallel palisades of fence-rails, 
and fill up the interval between them with hay lately mown, 
and yet on the field. Prescott, who had frequently mounted 
the works, with his bald head uncovered, and his commanding 
form, seemed a true personification of patriotiem. He infused 
a new spirit into men already full of heroic energy. When 
he ordered a guard to the ferry to prevent a landing, he was 
seen by General Gage, who was reconnoitring from Copp's 
Hill, in Boston. " Who is that officer, commanding?" inquired 
Gage of Counsellor Willard, by his side. The answer was, 
" Colonel Prescott ;" who, in fact, was Willard's brother-in- 
law. " Will he fight ?" asked Gage. " Yes, sir," said the 
other, " depend upon it, to the last drop of blood in him; but 
I cannot answer for his men." His men, however, soon 
answered for themselves. 

At noon, the British troops, about 4000 in number, left 

Boston, and approached the peninsula in barges, formed in 

two parallel lines, and landed at Moreton's Point without 
_ _ _ 



242 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 

meeting resistance, as the fire of artillery protected the de- 
barcation, by forcing the Americans to keep within their 
entrenchments. The enemy advanced slowly against the 
redoubt and trench, with their bright firelocks and bayonets 
glittering in the sun, halting from time to time for the artil- 
lery to come up, to injure the works previous to the assault. 
Nearer and nearer they came, in terrible array, commanded 
by Generals Howe and Pigot ; Colonels Nesbit, Abercrombie, 
and Clarke ; Majors Butler, Williams, Bruce, Spendlove, 
Smelt, Mitchell, Pitcairn, Short, Small, and Lord Rawdon,&c. 

As the Americans had no powder and balls to waste, the 
officers commanded their men to suffer the enemy to approach 
within eight rods of the works before they commenced firing. 
The men could scarcely be restrained, and a few discharged 
their guns. Prescott, in a rage at this disobedience, vowed 
vengeance to the next who should act contrary to his orders ; 
promising, at the same time, to give the command at the 
proper time. His lieutenant-colonel, Robinson, mounted the 
works, and ran round on the top, knocking up the muskets 
levelled at the enemy. The orders to fire were now given. 
The Americans took deliberate aim, and one continuous blaze 
made frightful havoc, and soon crimsoned the tall grass with 
the life-blood of hundreds of the enemy. The front rank was 
almost annihilated, and as others took the place of the slain, 
their own blood soon sw^elled the dreadful tide around them. 
Some of the Americans fired incessantly, while others loaded 
for them, thus giving a dreadful facility to mow down the 
approaching enemy. Some of the wounded were seen crawl- 
ing, with the last energies of life, from the gory heaps of the 
dead and the dying, among whom the officers bore the greatest 
proportion. The ranks of the assailants being thinned and 
broken, they fled in disorder to their place of landing, and 
some rushed headlong into the boats. The field was covered 
with the slain. The shouts of victory now inspired the souls 
of men with new and unwonted zeal for their sacred cause, 
while they fell upon the ears of the British as harbingers of 
death and disgrace. 

The venerable Mr. Thaxtor, a clergyman, still knelt on the 



1775.] 



REVOLUTION. 



243 



battle-field, with his hands raised to heaven ; his grey head 
exposed to the heat of the sun, and the bullets hissing around 
him. He prayed fervently to God for the delivery of his 
country. 

"It was an hour of fear and dread : 

High rose the battle-cry, 
And round, in heavy volumes, spread 

The war-cloud to Uie sky. 

'Twas not as when, in rival strength, 

Contending nations meet. 
Or love of conquest madly hurls 

A monarch from his seat: 

But many a warm-cemented tie 

Was riven in anguish wild. 
Ere with a foeman's vengeful eye 

The parent met the child. 

O'er the green hill's beleaguer'd breast 

Swept on the conflict high, 
And many a gallant leader press'd 

The trampled turf, to die. 

Yet one was there, unused to tread 

The path of mortal strife, 
Who but the Saviour's flock had led 

Beside the fount of life. 

He knelt him where the black smoke wreathed; 

His head was bow'd and bare, 
While, for an infant land, he breathed 

The agony of prayer. 

The shafts of death flew thick and fast, 

'Mid shrieks of ire and pain ; 
Wide waved his white locks on the blast. 

And round him fell the slain. 

Yet stni, with fervency intense. 

He press'd the endanger'd spot, 
The selfish thought, the shrinking sense, 

O'ermaster'd and forgot 

'Twould seem as if a marble form, 

Wrought in some quarried height. 
Were fix'd amid the battle-storm, 

Save that the eye was bright — 



244 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 

Save that the deeply-heaving breast, 

The hand, upraised in air. 
The mute, yet moving lip, express'd 

That strong life wrestled there. 

Then loud, upon their native soil, 

Peal'd forth tlie victors' cry. 
And, thinn'd beneath the desperate toil, 

The wearied host swept by. 

But, 'mid that new and fierce delight, 

Oh ! chiefs of other days ! 
Gave ye your falchions broad and bright. 

Your own right arras the praise 1 

Or thought ye still how many a prayer. 

Amid tlie deatliful fray, 
From cottage homes and hearts of care, 

Upheld your host that dayl 

The column, red with early morn, 

May tower o'er Bunker's height, 
And proudly tell a race unborn 

Their patriot fathers' might: — 

But thou, oh! patriarch, old and grey, 

Thou prophet of the free. 
Who knelt amid the dead that day, 

What fame shall rise to thee? 

It is not meet that brass or stone, 

Which feel the touch of time. 
Should keep the record of a faith 

That woke thy deed sublime: 

We trace it on a tablet fair. 

Which glows when stars are pale, 
A promise that the good man's prayer 

Shall with his God prevail." 

The British officers were running in every direction after 
the repulse, with promises, exhortations, and with threats, 
attempting to rally the scattered troops for a second attack. 
General Howe sent orders to Burgoyne and Clinton, (who 
were on Copp's Hill, in Boston, from which a fire of artillery 
had been kept up during the day,) to fire Charlestown. One 
object of Howe probably was, that the fire and smoke might 



1775.] UEvoLUTiox. 245 

cover his advance ; another, to dislodge the Americans who 
had taken shelter there, and had annoyed the British left 
wing. Carcasses are thrown from Copp's Hill into the fated 
town, which is soon enveloped in flames, which, excited by 
the wind, spread rapidly into a fearful conflagration. 

The British having again advanced near the entrenchments, 
the Americans, who as before, had reserved their fire until 
it could take full effect, showered another volley of bullets 
on the enemy. " To the volleys of musketry and the roar 
of cannon ; to the shouts of the fighting and the groans of the 
dying ; to the dark and awful atmosphere of smoke, envelop- 
ing tlie whole peninsula, and illumined in every quarter by 
the streams of fire from the various instruments of death ; the 
conflagration of six hundred buildings added a gloomy and 
amazing grandeur. In the midst of this waving lake of 
flame, the lofty steeple, converted into a blazing pyramid, 
towered and trembled over the vast pyre, and finished the 
scene of desolation." Overwhelmed and routed, the British 
again fled to their landing. A second time the shouts of vic- 
tory ascended to the skies, while joy reigned triumphant in 
every patriotic breast. 

" The hot air shakes ! the mountains jar ! 
As echo rolls the din afar, 

Through all their startled caves. 
Hark that fierce sliout ! — the field is won ! 
Awakes the breeze, — out bursts the sun ! 
W/wse banners catch his g-lowing dyes, 
As back the driven war-cloud flies 1 
Freedom ! — what host from vengeance flies 1 

A despot's beaten slaves !" 

The fire of the artillery and musketry ceased for a time ; 
the suffocating smoke rolled away, disclosing an awful spec- 
tacle to the soldiers and the swarms of spectators of every 
rank, age, and sex, on the houses, the hills, and the circum- 
jacent fields. They heard the agonizing yells, the piercing 
shrieks, the prayers and invocations, the oaths and impreca- 
tions of the wounded, mingled in horrible discord, more dire- 
ful than the noise of battle itself. 



246 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



The British, after these terrible defeats, were placed in a 
woful dilemma : to allow the Americans to remain would not 
only be a tacit acknowledgment of their superiority, but, as 
already stated, render the city untenable ; and to retreat in 
their armed vessels, of which they had about thirty in Boston 
harbour, even if their pride could bend to such a humiliating 
measure, prudence would forbid, as severely injuring the 
morale of their army, while it greatly improved that of the 
provincials. To march up to the American redoubt to be 
shot down, was the other horn of the dilemma. Some of the 
British officers actually began to remonstrate against leading 
the men to another butchery, but their remonstrances were 
disdainfully repelled by the others. 

General Clinton, on seeing the ill fortune of his troops, 
had passed over from Copp's Hill to their assistance. He 
re-established order, and, supported by the other officers, who 
felt the importance of success, he led the troops to a third 
attack. The result of this would, unquestionably, have been 
the same as before, but unfortunately for the Americans, their 
ammunition was nearly exhausted. Their fire languished 
and died away, while the enemy arrived at the foot of the 
redoubt. The muskets of the Americans being destitute of 
bayonets, they used the butt-end of them to defend themselves ! 
This unexampled resistance was a sublime demonstration of 
the moral force of men determined to be free. But as the 
redoubt was already full of enemies, to continue the battle 
any longer would be folly rather than courage. The signal 
of retreat was given, and our heroic fathers retired. The 
only way to leave the peninsula was by the same isthmus 
over which they had entered. This was incessantly raked 
by the balls of a ship of war and two floating batteries. 
The Americans, however, passed over the neck without sus- 
taining much injury, and joined the main army. Prescott 
repaired to head-quarters to make return of his trust, at the 
same time imploring General Ward to commit to him three 
fresh regiments, and he would win bach the field. But he 
was told that he had already honourably accomplished all 
that his country could demand. 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 247 



In this engagement the enemy lost 22G killed (among whom 
was Major Pitcairne, who first lighted the torch of war at 
Lexinofton) and 828 wounded. The Americans lost 139 killed, 
and 314 were wounded and missing. Among the killed was 
the lamented General Warren, president of the provincial 
Congress, and chairman of the committee of safety, which 
exei'cised the executive power of the province of Massachu- 
setts. He was killed during the retreat. Despising all dan- 
ger, he placed himself before the ranks to rally his corps by 
his example, and make the retreat in safety. An English 
officer, who knew the doctor, borrowed a musket of one of 
his soldiers, took deliberate aim and killed him instantly. 
" Warren was one of those men who are more attached to 
liberty than to existence, but not more ardently the friend 
of freedom, than foe to avarice and ambition. He was en- 
dowed with a solid judgment, a happy genius, and a brilliant 
eloquence. In all private affairs, his opinion was reputed 
authority, and in all public councils, a decision. Friends 
and enemies, equally knowing his fidelity and rectitude in 
all things, reposed in him a confidence without limits. Op- 
posed to the wicked, without hatred ; propitious to the good, 
without adulation ; affable, courteous, and humane towards 
each, he was beloved with reverence by all, and respected 
by envy itself. Though in his person somewhat spare, his 
figure was peculiarly agreeable. He mourned, at this epoch, 
the recent loss of a wife, by whom he was tenderly beloved, 
and whom he cherished with reciprocal affection. In dying 
so gloriously for his country, on this memorable day, he left 
several orphans, still in childhood ; but a grateful country 
assumed the care of their education. Thus was lost to the 
state, and to his family, in so important a crisis, and in the 
vigour of his days, a man equally qualified to excel in council 
or in the field." 

The results of this battle were the same as a decided victory, 
upon the minds of a people who must conquer by moral force. 
They found out that the enemy were not invulnerable ; and 
this encouraged them to continued resistance. 

The British, because they took the field, claimed the victory, 



248 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 

but they might have exclaimed with Pyrrhus, " If we gain 
such another, we are inevitably ruined." 

The following extract of a letter from General Gage to 
Lord Dartmouth, may serve to give an idea of the effect the 
battle produced on the minds of the British : 

" The success, of which I send your lordship an account 
by the present opportunity, was very necessary in our present 
situation, and I wish, most sincerely, that it had not cost us 
so dear. The number of killed and wounded is greater than 
our forces can afford to lose. The officers, who were obliged 
to exert themselves, have suffered very much, and w^e have 
lost some extremely good officers. The trials we have had, 
show the rebels are not the despicable rabble too many have 
supposed them to be ; and I find it owing to a military spirit, 
encouraged among them for a few years past,, joined with an 
uncommon degree of zeal and enthusiasm, that they are other- 
wise. When they find cover, they make a good stand, and 
the country, naturally strong, affords it to them ; and they 
are taught to assist its natural strength by art,/o?' they en- 
trench and raise batteries. [!] They have fortified all the 
heights and passes around this town, from Dorchester to 
Medford or Mystick, and it is not impossible for them to 
annoy the town. 

" Your lordship W'ill perceive that the conquest of this 
country is not easy, and can be effected only by time and 
perseverance, and strong armies attacking it in various quar- 
ters, and dividing their forces. Confining your operations on 
this side only, is attacking in the strongest part, and you have 
to cope with vast numbers. It might naturally be supposed 
that troops, of the nature of the rebel army, would return 
home after such a check as they had got ; and I hear many 
wanted to go off, but care has been taken to prevent it ; for 
any man that returns home without a pass is immediately 
seized and sent back to his regiment. In all their wars 
against the French, they never showed so much conduct, 
attention, and perseverance as they do now. I think it my 
duty to let your lordship know the true situation of affairs, 
that administration may take measures accordingly. 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 249 

" The people's minds are kept so much heated and inflamed, 
that they are always ripe for everything that is extravagant. 
Truth is kept from them, and they are too full of prejudice 
to believe it, if laid before them, and so blind and bigoted, 
that they cannot see that they have exchanged liberty for 
tyranny. [!] No people were ever governed more absolutely 
than those of the American provinces now are, and no reason 
can be given for their submission, but that it is a tyranny 
they have erected themselves, as they believe, to avoid greater 
evils." 

The following observations on the government account of 
the action near Charlestown, were published in an opposition 
paper in London. 

" There are two sorts of persons who always persevere 
uniformly, and without shame, in one unvaried line of conduct, 
regardless of the contempt and detestation of mankind. The 
sorts I mean are the thorough virtuous, and thfe thorough 
scoundrel. 

" To one of these classes, most evidently, belong the minis- 
ters, who settled the account which they have given us in 
last Tuesday's Gazette. 

" The action near Boston happened on the 17th of June, 
yet General Gage's letter is dated eight days after, on the 
2.5th of June. 

" By this letter it appears that it has cost one thousand 
and fifty-four of the troops, killed and wounded, to destroy a 
redoubt thrown up only the overnight, i. e., on the 16th of 
June. ' The loss of the provincials,' the letter says, ' must 
have been considerable ;' yet, eight days after the action, the 
general, though completely victorious, can tell us only of 
'one hundred' buried, and ' thirty' wounded. 

" But ' they had carried off great numbers during the time 
of the action.' Did they so? That is no great sign of flight, 
confusion, and defeat. 

" But * they buried them in holes.' Really ! why, are our 
soldiers buried in the air ? 

" But ' the king's troops were under every disadvantage.' 
So, truly, it seems ; for, in the same letter, we are told ' that 

32 



250 THE ARMY AND NAVV. [1775. 

they had a proportion of field-artillery, and landed on the 
peninsula without opposition, and formed, as soon as landed, 
under the protection of some ships of war, armed vessels, and 
boats, by whose fire the rebels were kept within their works.' 

" But * this action has shown the superiority of the king's 
troops.' Has it, indeed? How? Why, they (with a pro- 
portion of field-artillery, and with the assistance of ships, 
armed vessels, and boats, and with the encouragement of cer- 
tain and speedy reinforcements, if necessary) attacked and 
defeated ' above three times their own numbers.' What, 
three times their own numbers? Of whom, pray? Of French 
or Spanish regulars ? No, of the Americans. Of the Ame- 
ricans ! What, of those dastardly, hypocritical cowards, 
who (Lord Sandwich knows) do not feel bold enough to dare 
to look a soldier in the face ? Of those undisciplined and 
spiritless Yankees, who were to be driven from one end of 
the continent to the other, with a single regiment ? What, 
of those skulking assassins, who can only fire at a distance, 
from behind stone walls and hedges ? Was it necessary to 
defeat these fellows, that the troops should be 'spirited' by 
the example of General Howe, assisted by General Clinton ? 
And can it be, that Lieutenant-Colonels Nesbit, Abercrombie, 
and Clarke ; Majors Butler, Williams, Bruce, Spendlove, 
Smelt, Mitchell, Pitcairne, and Short, should be forced to 
exert themselves remarkably against such poltroons ? 

" Good God ! is it come to this at last ? Can the regulars, 
with all these exertions, only defeat three times their own 
number of undisciplined cowards ? and that, too, at the ex- 
pense of one thousand and fifty-four (that is, more than one- 
half) killed and wounded, out of something above two thou- 
sand? 

" Is every redoubt which the Americans can throw up in 
a short summer night to be demolished at this expense? How 
many such victories can we bear ? 

#***-****♦# 

*' To be serious, I am, for my own part, convinced that the 
event of this execrable dragooning is decided ; and that be- 
fore winter, there will not be a single soldier of Lord Bute's 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 25) 

and Lord Mansfield's mercenary troops left upon the conti 
nent of America." **»**#* 

The pathetic eulogiums pronounced on those that were 
slain in battle, had a powerful effect on the minds of the 
American people, as the reader may readily conceive on read- 
ing the following eulogium on Dr. Warren, published in a 
Philadelphia paper : 

" What spectacle more noble than this, of a hero who has 
given his life for the safety of his country 1 Approach, cruel 
ministers, and contemplate the fruits of your sanguinary 
edicts. What reparation can you offer to his children for the 
loss of such a father, to the king for that of so good a sub- 
ject, to the country for that of so devoted a citizen ? Send 
hither your satellites ; come, feast your vindictive rage ; the 
most implacable enemy to tyrants is no more. We conjure 
you, respect these his honoured remains. Have compassion 
on the fate of a mother overwhelmed with despair and with 
age. Of him nothing is left that you can still fear. His elo- 
quence is mute ; his arms are fallen from his hand ; then lay 
down yours ; what more have you to perpetrate, barbarians 
that you are? But, while the name of American liberty 
shall live, that of Warren will fire our breasts, and animate 
our arms, against the pest of standing armies. 

" Approach, senators of America ! Come and deliberate 
here upon the interests of the United Colonies. Listen to 
the voice of this illustrious citizen ; he entreats, he exhorts, he 
implores you not to disturb his present felicity with the doubt 
that he perhaps has sacrificed his life for a people of slaves. 

" Come hither, ye soldiers, ye champions of American 
liberty, and contemplate a spectacle which should inflame 
your generous hearts with even a new motive to glory. Re- 
member, his shade still hovers unexpiated among us. Ten 
thousand ministerial soldiers would not suffice to compensate 
his death. Let ancient ties be no restraint, foes of liberty 
are no longer the brethren of freemen. Give edge to your 
arms, and lay them not down till tyranny be expelled from 
the British empire ; or America, at least, become the real 
seat of liberty and happiness. 



252 THE AltMY AND NAVY. [1/75. 



"Approach ye, also, American fathers and American mothers; 
come hither, and contemplate the first-fruits of tyranny ; be- 
hold your friend, the defender of your liberty, the honour, the 
hope of your country ; see this illustrious hero, pierced with 
wounds, and bathed in his own blood. But let not grief, let 
not your tears be steril. Go, hasten to your homes, avd thei^e 
teach your children to detest the deeds of tyranny ; lay before 
them the horrid scene you have beheld ; let their hair stand 
on end ; let their eyes sparkle with fire ; let resentment kindle 
every feature ; let their lips vent threats and indignation ; 
then — then — put arms into their hands, send them to battle, 
and let your last injunction be, to return victorious, or to die, 
like Warren, in the arms of liberty and of glory ! 

"And ye, generations of the future, will often look back to 
this memorable epoch. You will transfer the names of trai- 
tors, and of rebels, from the faithful people of America to 
those who have merited them. Your eyes will penetrate all 
the iniquity of this scheme of despotism, recently plotted by 
the British government. You will see good kings misled by 
perfidious ministers, and virtuous ministers by perfidious kings. 
You will perceive, that if at first the sovereigns of Great 
Britain shed tears in commanding their subjects to accept 
atrocious laws, they soon gave themselves up to joy in the 
midst of murder, expecting to see the whole continent drenched 
in the blood of freemen. Oh ! save the human race from the 
last outrages, and render a noble justice to the American 
colonies. Recall to life the ancient Roman and British elo- 
quence, and be not niggardly of merited praises towards 
those who have bequeathed you liberty. It costs us floods of 
gold and of blood; it costs us, alas ! the life of Warren." 



1775.] KEVOLUTION. 253 



CHAPTER V. 

Meeting of second Continental Congress— Washington appointed Commander- 
in-Chief of the American Army— Arrives at Cambridge— Reception by the Army 
—Other Acts of Congress to defend the Country— Expedition against Canada- 
Death of Montgomery— Troubles in Virginia— Flight of the Governor— Burning 
of Hampton and Norfolk. 

"His life was gentle ; and the elements 
So mix'd in him, that Nature might stand up, 
And say to all the world, This was a man .'" 

" He was a man, take him for all in all, 
We shall not look upon his like again." 

" Is my face pale with fear 1 

Why dost thou think to darken my soul with the tales of those who fell 1" 

" Warrior, we can fall, but we shall fall with renown." 

On the 10th of May, the second Continental Congress con- 
vened at Philadelphia. As the Americans had now fairly 
embarked in a war against British oppression, it became ne- 
cessary for Congress to turn their attention to the condition 
of the army that blockaded Boston. 

All the generals then in command had received their au- 
thority from the colonial Assemblies, and therefore had no 
power to command an army in the name of the whole country. 
To appoint a commander-in-chief, possessed in a pre-eminent 
degree of prudence, firmness, and energy, who would stand 
up like a mighty Colossus against the most powerful nation 
on the earth, in defence of a people yet in their infancy, a 
Hercules in the cradle ; a man, whose name and influence 
could gain the respect, and command the obedience of a 
people unaccustomed to military restraint ; was a matter of 
deep and vital importance. The illustrious sages and patriots 
who composed this Congress, felt the responsibility. The 
welfare of the present and of future generations would, in a 
great measure, depend upon their selection. 

On the 15th of June they proceeded to an election by 
ballot, when it was found that George Washington, a mem- 



254 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



ber of their own body, from Virginia, was unanimously 
elected. Every nation and generation will always acknow- 
ledge the wisdom of this choice to insure success. The very 
nation against whom he contended successfully, have since 
graced their Encyclopedias with a faithful delineation of his 
illustrious qualities. The following description of the cha- 
racter of Washington, by Spark, is probably one of the most 
faithful that has been given : " It is the harmonious union of 
the intellectual and moral powers, rather than the splendour 
of any one trait, which constitutes the grandeur of his cha- 
racter. If the title of great man ought to be reserved for 
him, who cannot be charged with an indiscretion or a vice, 
who spent his life in establishing the independence, the glory, 
and durable prosperity of his country, who succeeded in all 
that he undertook, and whose successes were never won at 
the expense of honour, justice, integrity, or by the sacrifice 
of a single principle, this title will not be denied to Wash- 
ington." 

Naturally modest and reserved, when his election was 
announced by the president of Congress, he rose, and said that 
he returned his most cordial thanks to Congress, for the honour 
they had conferred upon him ; " but," said he, " lest some 
unlucky event should happen, unfavourable to my reputation, 
I beg it may be remembered, by every gentleman in the 
room, that I this day declared, with the utmost sincerity, I do 
not think myself equal to the command I am honoured with. 

" As to pay, sir, I beg leave to assure the Congress, that 
as no pecuniary considerations could have tempted me to 
accept this arduous employment, at the expense of my 
domestic ease and happiness, I do not wish to make any 
profit by it. I will keep an exact account of my expenses. 
Those, I doubt not, they will discharge, and that is all I 
desire." 

On presenting his commission. Congress adopted a resolu- 
tion : " that they would maintain and assist him, and adhere 
to him with their lives and fortunes in the cause of American 
liberty." 

Desirous to have other experienced and distinguished 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 255 

officers at the head of the army to assist Washington, Con- 
gress appointed Artemus Ward, first major-general ; Charles 
Lee, second major-general ; Philip Schuyler, third major- 
general ; and Israel Putnam, fourth major-general ; Horatio 
Gates was appointed adjutant-general. A few days after, 
eight brigadier-generals were appointed : Seth Pomeroy, 
William Heath, and John Thomas, of Massachusetts ; Richard 
Montgomery, of New York; David Wooster and Joseph 
Spencer, of Connecticut ; John Sullivan, of New Hampshire, 
and Nathaniel Greene, of Rhode Island. The history of the 
subsequent achievements of these men forms the best com- 
mentary on the wisdom of Congress in their selection. 

Fifteen days after he received his commission, Washington 
arrived at head-quarters, in Cambridge, in company with 
General Lee and several other gentlemen. He was received 
everywhere, on his way, with the greatest honours, and by 
the army with joyous acclamations. The distant woods, hills, 
and valleys shouted again and conveyed the glad tidings over 
the land. 

Having reviewed the army, Washington found among a 
great multitude only 14,000 men in a condition for the service. 
The right of the army still rested on Roxbury, under General 
Ward, and the left was posted on Prospect Hill, near the 
Mystic river, under General Lee, while the main army was 
at Cambridge, under the guardianship of the commander-in- 
chief. The American army was in want of almost every- 
thing except courage, and a determination to defend their 
rights. There had been a great scarcity of powder from the 
commencement of the war ; and all the powder they had now 
amounted to only about 10,000 pounds. The men were 
uniform in nothing except in mind, and in the want of bayo- 
nets. Even their rifles were of different calibres, which 
obliged them to hammer the balls to make them fit. There 
was also a great want of order and discipline. Washington 
immediately commenced to restore the one and instruct them 
in the other. This was a difficult and delicate undertaking 
with men not accustomed to restraint ; but the wisdom and 
firmness of the commander-in-chief, aided by Congress, over- 



256 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



n 



came these difficulties, and the camp presented the appearance 
of a regular army. Redoubts were thrown up, and mounted 
so formidable an artillery along the line of circumvallation, 
that the enemy could not have taken Cambridge by assault, 
to open a way into the country. Thus the siege, or at least 
the blockade by land, was perfect. A supply of powder was 
soon received. Congress raised a number of riflemen in 
Pennsylvania and Virginia, to march to Boston to serve as 
light infantry ; and, on receiving the news of the battle of 
Breed's Hill, it was decreed that two companies more should 
be levied in Pennsylvania. These companies, composed of 
about 1400 men, lightly clothed and armed with good rifles, 
arrived at camp about the beginning of August. 

A resolution of Congress recommended to the colonies to put 
themselves in a state of defence, to be provided with men, arms, 
and ammunition. The men, from sixteen to fifty years of age, 
formed themselves into regular companies, and exercised 
themselves in wielding their arms. Manufactories of gun- 
powder and cannon-foundries were soon rising, and the views 
of Congress, seconded by the colonial Assemblies, were obeyed 
and carried out by the people with the greatest promptitude. 

The old man's company was formed in Philadelphia, com- 
posed of old German emigrants, the oldest of whom, being 
nearly 100 years of age, was elected captain. Indeed, al- 
though the desire of Congress to arm the country was ful-. 
filled in all the colonies, yet in none was it executed with 
more ardour than throughout Pennsylvania. Not only did 
8000 men frequently meet in Philadelphia and manoeuvre in 
the presence of Congress, but in every country town through- 
out the colony these parades were constantly to be seen. 
The German and Swiss inhabitants of Pennsylvania, distin- 
guished for their honesty, industry, and patriotism, formed 
then, as their descendants do now, the bone and sinew of the 
state, and have ever since, in most instances, elected governors 
of German or Swiss descent. 

Even the ladies raised and equipped a regiment at Bristol, 
in this state; not of ladies, of course, but of men, at the expense 
of the ladies. The banners they embroidered with their own 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 257 



hands; and on presenting them, one of the ladies, in an eloquent 
speech, told the soldiers never to run away from the banners 
of the American ladies. And now let the enemy remember 
it is always prudent to avoid the regiments who march under 
the banners of the ladies. They are absolutely invincible ! 
What ! such men come home and look those ladies in the face 
without the banners ! Ridiculous ; no man would ever dream 
of such a thing ! 

Congress, in order to establish their authority on regular 
laws, sanctioned by the people, and to cement the union of 
the colonies, drew up and published articles of confederation, 
in which the colonists " bound themselves and their posterity, 
for the common defence against enemies, for the protection of 
liberty and property, as also their persons, and of the pros- 
perity of America." These were afterwards adopted by all 
the colonies, preparing the way for a final separation from 
Great Britain, of the necessity and propriety of which, the 
members of Congress, as well as many others, were convinced 
long before they considered it prudent to publish their 
opinions. 

While the provincial army was encamped before Boston, 
and Washington was employed in preparing for future ope- 
rations. Congress, having reason to anticipate the invasion of 
the colonies from Canada, planned an expedition against that 
province. The discontent among the inhabitants, who were 
still French at heart, and who cherished a hatred against a 
late act of Parliament, which, although it favoured their reli- 
gion, replaced them under the ancient nobility, whom they 
hated, it was supposed that, if an American army would 
penetrate into the country, the inhabitants would favour their 
cause as a favourable opportunity to free themselves from the 
British yoke. 

The troops had nearly all been withdrawn to Boston, where 
they were now shut up, and the province was left compara- 
tively defenceless ; but the following spring numerous forces 
would probably be poured in to attack the colonies in the 
rear, an event which might be attended with the most disas- 
trous consequences. The design of the Americans was also 

33 '^* 



258 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 

encouraged by the possession of Ticonderoga and Crown 
Point, which formed the key to the province, and would 
greatly facilitate their efforts. 

Defensive war must assume an offensive character to be- 
come the more effectual ; and as the enemy were the aggress- 
ors, and had resolved on continuing the war, it was expedient 
and proper to invade their dominions. 

Three thousand troops were selected from New England 
and New York, and placed under the command of Brigadier- 
Generals Wooster and Montgomery, under the direction of 
Major-General Schuyler. 

As the troops must traverse Lake Champlain, the river 
Sorel and the river St. Lawrence, to reach Canada, orders 
had been given to construct flat-bottomed boats at Ticonde- 
roga, and at Crown Point, to convey the troops to the places 
necessary to fulfil the design of the enterprise. 

The bills of credit thrown into circulation by Congress, it 
was well known, would not be received in Canada, and an 
effort was made to collect 50,000 dollars in specie. At the 
same time, the friendship of the Indians on the Mohawk 
river was cultivated by General Schuyler, who possessed a 
powerful influence over them, and who had remained in Al- 
bany for that purpose. 

Montgomery had already gone to Crown Point with a part 
of the army, where he waited for the arrival of the rest. 
Having heard that Carleton, the enterprising and talented 
Governor of Canada, had caused a large brig to be con- 
structed and armed, with a number of other vessels of less 
force, to be stationed in the river Sorel, at the outlet of Lake 
Champlain, to interdict the passage of the Americans into 
Canada, he determined to prevent it by moving rapidly with 
a few troops to occupy He aux Noix, a little island situated 
upon the entrance of the river, commanding the entrance into 
the lake. 

Here General Schuyler now also arrived from Albany, 
where he had left orders for marching his troops to He aux 
Noix. From this place the two generals issued a proclama- 
tion to the people of Canada, inviting them to join the Ame- 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 259 



ricans to defend their own liberties. They told them that 
they came not as enemies, but as friends, making war only 
against the British garrison. 

Hence they marched to fort St. John, which, situated on 
the left bank of the Sorel, commands it and closes the pas- 
sage towards the St. Lawrence. Moving on, they landed one 
mile and a half from the fort, in a marsh, through which they 
marched in good order, with the object of reconnoitring the 
place. In the course of this march, they were furiously 
attacked by the Indians, (Sept. 6th,) who intended to prevent 
their fording a river : these, however, the Americans drove 
back, and, in the night, established themselves in sight of the 
fort, where they threw up works. But, having no artillery, 
and learning, moreover, that the fort was well defended, they 
returned, the next day, to He aux Noix, to await reinforce- 
ments and artillery. At the same time, the Americans were 
employed in obstructing the channel of the river with che- 
vaux-de-frise, to prevent the communication of the governor's 
ships between fort St. John and the lake. 

General Schuyler having fallen into an indisposition, the 
command devolved on General Montgomery. He succeeded 
in detaching the Indians from the English in this place, and 
persuaded them to remain neuter. After the arrival of the 
reinforcements and artillery, he immediately advanced and 
laid siege to St. John. But feeling the general want among 
the provincials of powder and cannon-balls, he directed his 
attention to fort Chamblee, a small fort, five miles from St. 
John, on the same river, to which he sent a detachment of 
about 300 men, under Majors Brown and Livingstone. They 
appeared suddenly before the fort, and took possession of it. 
The garrison, composed of 160 men, commanded by Major 
Stopford, were made prisoners. 

The ammunition found in this fort, consisting of a few 
cannon, and 124 barrels of powder, enabled Montgomery to 
push the siege of St. John more vigorously. A battery was 
established only fifty paces from the fort. 

Several detachments scoured the country between the 
Sorel and the St. Lawrence, where they were received by 



260 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



the Canadian people with demonstrations of joy, who came 
to join them and furnish them with arms, ammunition, and 
provisions. Colonel Allen and Major Brown now concerted 
the project of surprising and taking Montreal, the capital of 
Upper Canada, and situated on an island formed by two 
branches of the St. Lawrence. Allen marched to the banks 
of the St. Lawrence, where finding boats, he crossed over in 
the night, about three miles below Montreal. Major Brown 
was to have crossed over at the same time, but, unable to 
effect it, Allen was left in a very dangerous situation. Gov- 
ernor Carleton, with a number of English, Canadians, and 
Indians, marched out from Montreal to meet him. A fierce 
conflict ensued, in which Allen defended himself with great 
bravery, but, overpowered by numbers and deserted by his 
Canadian allies, he was forced to surrender. The governor 
barbarously loaded him with chains, and sent him to England 
to be tried as a rebel. 

This success of the governor encouraged him to make an 
attempt to raise the siege of St. John. He assembled his 
troops, and departed from Montreal to join Colonel Maclean, 
who occupied the mouth of the Sorel with the Scotch regi- 
ment of Royal Highlanders. With these united forces he 
intended to attack Montgomery. The American general, 
however, had taken measures to guard against such an attack, 
by scouring, with a number of detachments, the eastern bank 
ot the right branch of the St. Lawrence. 

The English, in conformity with their design, entered their 
boats to cross the river at Longueville, but Colonel Warner 
having placed artillery on the bank of the river, stood ready 
for their reception. As the English approached, he opened a 
fire of grape-shot upon them, which drove them back to 
Montreal in great disorder. Colonel Maclean fell back upon 
Quebec, leaving the mouth of the Sorel at the disposal of the 
Americans. 

The siege of St. John was rapidly progressing; Mont- 
gomery had approached with his trenches to the foot of the 
wall, and was preparing for an assault, when Major Preston, 
at the head of more than 500 regulars, and about 100 Cana- 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 261 

dian volunteers, surrendered, on the 3d of November, after a 
siege of six w^eeks. Preston obtained the honours of war, 
and the prisoners were conducted into the colonies. The 
spoils were seventeen pieces of brass, and twenty-two iron can- 
non, seventeen mortars, and a large quantity of balls and bombs. 

The next object of the Americans was, to occupy the 
mouth of the Sorel. This was of the greatest importance, 
to prevent the governor with his armed vessels, assembled at 
Montreal, from descending the river and escaping to Quebec. 
Batteries were erected on the point of land formed by the 
junction of the Sorel with the St. Lawrence ; and the river 
being very wide at this place, a number of rafts and floating 
batteries were also constructed. This not only prevented 
Carleton from descending the river, but by a violent attack 
he was driven back towards Montreal. The governor and 
his squadron were thus placed in a most critical situation. 

General Montgomery proceeded to Montreal, which he 
entered in triumph on the 13th of November. General Carle- 
ton had joined his ships and left the town the day previous. 
The inhabitants of Montreal were obliged to surrender at 
discretion, for, not being in a state of defence, they could 
make no terms. It was, however, the interest and the incli- 
nation of the conqueror to treat the vanquished with great 
lenity. He promised to protect their property and their re- 
ligion, and added, he hoped that, if they adhered to the Ame- 
rican cause, their civil and religious rights would be established 
by the provincial Congress, and that their courts of justice 
would be organized upon the principle of the English consti- 
tution. After such treatment to the people of Montreal, the 
general had reason to hope that the inhabitants of Quebec 
would espouse the cause of America. 

The governor, with his ships, was blockaded between the 
city and the mouth of the Sorel ; and not only were all his 
naval efforts at an end, but his escape appeared absolutely 
impossible. In this critical period he threw himself into a 
boat, caused the paddles to be muffled to prevent much noise, 
and in this manner had the good fortune, on a dark night, to 
pass through the guard-boats of the Americans, and arrive in 



262 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



safety at Quebec. General Prescott, who took the command 
of the squadron after the escape of the governor, was soon 
after obliged to surrender, and eleven sail of vessels, several 
officers, 120 privates, a large quantity of flour, beef, butter, 
cannon, small-arms and military stores, fell into the hands of 
the provincials. 

Having garrisoned Montreal, St. John, and Chamblee, to 
keep up a communication between Quebec and the colonies, 
Montgomery marched to Quebec with only about 300 men. 
As the march from St. John to Montreal had been attended 
with . so much difficulty and suffering, through low and 
marshy land, many of the troops began to murmur when they 
arrived at the latter place ; and as the time of the service of 
some had expired, they insisted upon going home. Some of 
these malcontents actually did go home, while others were 
persuaded to follow the fortunes of their leader. 

Colonel Maclean was suddenly called upon to defend Que- 
bec against the most imminent danger from an unexpected 
quarter. 

At the time the provincial army blockaded Boston, Wash- 
ington had conceived an enterprise, which, for originality and 
boldness, has seldom been equalled. 

About 130 miles north of Boston is the Kennebec river, 
stretching from the sea through the state of Maine to no great 
distance from Quebec. The plan was, to sail up this river 
with about 1100 men, penetrate through swamps and forests, 
and pass over the mountains that separate New England from 
Canada, beyond the sources of the Kennebec. Opposite 
these sources, on the other side of the mountains, rises an- 
other river, called the Chaudiere, which flows into the St. 
Lawrence a short distance above Quebec. Arriving from 
such an unexpected quarter, through rough and dismal soli- 
tudes, where the marching of an army appeared chimerical, 
it was supposed that Quebec, unprepared for such an attack, 
would fall an easy prey. 

The command of this extraordinary enterprise was given 
to Colonel Arnold, a man of the most intrepid courage, bor- 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 263 

dering at times on madness, a ready genius, with great energy 
and firnmess of character. 

About the middle of September, Arnold left Boston with 
ten companies of fusileers, three of riflemen, and one of artil- 
lery. Among the few volunteers that joined them, was 
Colonel Burr. When they arrived at Newburyport, situated 
at the mouth of the Merrimack, the vessels in waiting con- 
veyed the expedition to the mouth of the Kennebec. Favoured 
by the wind, Arnold entered the river, and found 200 batteaux 
in progress, at the town of Gardiner. These being laden 
with his arms, ammunition, and provisions, the soldiers com- 
menced their labours against an impetuous current, interrupted 
by rocks, shoals, and falls, which obliged them to unload the 
boats again and again, and carry all the lading, and, finally, 
the boats themselves, until the stream became navigable again. 
And when, with incessant toil, they had traversed the length 
of the river, they had difficulties to encounter no less formi- 
dable. They now commenced their march over swampy 
grounds ; penetrated through thick forests, hewing their way 
through, with baggage on their backs ; scaled high and rug- 
ged mountains, hitherto deemed inaccessible ; waded through 
water ; traversed frightful precipices ; and, to increase these 
accumulated horrors, their provisions had failed, and sickness 
appeared among them before they had reached the sources of 
the Kennebec; and Colonel Enos receiving orders to send 
back all the sick, embraced the occasion and went back him- 
self with all his detachment to Boston. His appearance there 
excited the indignation of the army ; he was brought before 
a court-martial, but acquitted, on the supposed impossibility 
of obtaining sustenance in these dismal places. This deser- 
tion, and the increasing difficulties, seemed to invigorate 
Arnold and his heroic followers. They ate their dogs, and 
whatever else they could get, excepting, however^ their shoes 
and clothes, as some authors, influenced by popular errors, 
have erroneously stated. For 300 miles they travelled, 
without perceiving a single habitation. While still at the 
distance of one hundred miles from human habitations, they 
divided their whole store, and each man got about four pints 



264 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



of flour. At thirty miles' distance from the habitations of 
men, they baked the last morsel of their provisions. Their 
constancy and courage, however, did not desert them, and 
when threatened with death from famine, Arnold appeared 
among them with some food. They continued their march, 
and at length discovered, to their inexpressible joy, the 
sources of the Chaudiere, and soon after the dwellings and 
faces of men. The Canadians received and treated them as 
friends, expressing their friendly disposition towards Congress. 
Arnold issued a proclamation of General Washington, the 
nature of which was the same as that of Schuyler and Mont- 
gomery ; and having collected his scattered soldiers, he con- 
tinued his march, and about six or seven weeks after his de- 
parture from Boston, or rather Cambridge, he arrived at a 
place called Point Levy, situated opposite to Quebec, on the 
bank of the river St. Lawrence. 

The astonishment and consternation produced upon the 
people of Quebec on the appearance of this apparition, was 
universal. They could not imagine how they got there. 
They were not of " questionable shape" enough to have 
dropped from the moon ; and although their hard journey may 
have given them some little resemblance, in their outward 
appearance, to FalstafT's regiment, yet they did not look like 
beings from a nether world. Had not the small-craft and 
boats been removed just before the arrival of Arnold, which 
prevented him from crossing the river for several days, he 
would have made himself master of Quebec before the inha- 
bitants recovered from their surprise. 

Arnold had confided a letter to an Indian while yet at the 
sources of the Kennebec, to carry to General Schuyler, which, 
through the carelessness or treachery of the savage, fell into 
the hands of Colonel Maclean, who, being thus apprized of the 
approach of the Americans, had advanced by forced marches 
to Quebec, just in time to withdraw the boats and make hasty 
preparations to defend the city. From the disaffection which 
prevailed in Canada to the British government, this defence 
would have been very feeble ; but many of the inhabitants, 
both French and English, as soon as they saw American 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 265 



colours floating on the other side of the river, fearing for their 
own property, united by common danger in active exertions 
to be prepared before the Americans could cross the river. 

Some of the Canadians having furnished Arnold with boats, 
and the tempestuous winds which had blown for several days 
and nights having ceased, he appointed the night of the 13th 
of November to pass the river and attack the city. All his 
men were embarked except 150, who remained to complete 
the scaling-ladders. The ships of the enemy were carefully 
avoided, and on reaching the left bank, Arnold, followed by 
his heroic soldiers, mounted the heights of Abraham, where 
the immortal Wolfe had ascended before him, and drew up 
his little army near the plains of Abraham. Here he waited 
for the companies on the other side of the river. He hoped 
to surprise the city and carry it by a single effort ; but his in- 
tercepted letter, and his appearance at Point Levy, had given 
the alarm, and all were at their posts. He resolved, how- 
ever, upon an attack, notwithstanding the unpromising as- 
pect of affairs. He had no cannon ; many of his muskets 
had become useless during the journey, and their ammuni- 
tion was so damaged that only six charges remained to a 
man. With a view to excite a moral sway over the inhabit- 
ants, he now began to show himself frequently upon the 
heights, and at last actually sent a flag summoning the town 
to surrender, but Maclean ordered his men to fire upon the 
bearers. Receiving intelligence of several Canadians that it 
was proposed to attack him on the morning of the 19th, 
Arnold found it necessary to retire to Point au Tremble, 
twenty miles above Quebec, to await the arrival of Montgo- 
mery from Upper Canada. 

On the first of December, Montgomery arrived at Point au 
Tremble, with his 300 men. Colonel Arnold advanced to re- 
ceive him, and the shouts of joy at this meeting echoed far 
over the dismal scenes of winter. 

Marching in company, the two generals arrived in sight of 
Quebec on the 5th of December. Montgomery demanded 
an immediate surrender of the governor, who had now ar- 
rived. This was again refused ; and the general, considering 

34 X 



266 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



his weakness and the resolution of the inhabitants to oppose 
him. had but faint hopes of success. However, as the for- 
tifications of so extensive a city were numerous, he thought 
of finding an opportunity to strike a decisive blow at some 
propitious moment. Five small mortars were employed to 
throw bombs into the city, but without effect. In a few days 
after, six pieces of cannon were planted within 700 paces of 
the walls, but their calibre was too small to produce any 
effect. 

A Canadian winter, with all its severity, was howling 
around our adventurers. The snow, which fell incessantly, 
encumbered all their movements ; the piercing cold was be- 
yond human nature to bear in the open field ; the toils and 
dreadful sufferings to which their small number subjected 
them, would have been overwhelming, had not their attach- 
ment to their cause and their unshaken confidence in their 
general sustained them. 

" The keener tempests rise ; and fuming dun 
From all the livid east, or piercing north, 
Thick clouds ascend, in whose capacious womb 
A vapoury deluge lies, to snow congeal'd ; 
Heavy they roll their fleecy world along, 
And the sky saddens with the gather'd storm. 
Through the hush'd air the whitening shower descends, 
At first thin wavering, till at last the flakes 
Fall broad, and wide, and fast, dimming the day 
With a continual flow." 

The time of service of the provincials had nearly expired, 
and Montgomery saw that, without a bold effort, this part of 
the object of his expedition must fail ; and he even doubted 
if the conquests already made could be preserved, if the capi- 
tal of the province remained in the power of the English. 

Thus situated, temerity and prudence became almost the 
same to them ; and however slender may have been the hopes 
of success, they resorted to the only means left them consist- 
ent with the character of brave and patriotic men. A coun- 
cil of war was convoked ; an assault was agreed upon, and 
the necessary dispositions for storming the town were put in 
execution. 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 267 



Four attacks were to be made at the same time — two false 
ones, by Majors Livingstone and Brown, to divide the ene- 
my's forces, and two real ones, the first led by Montgomery, 
and the second by Arnold, both of whom directed their 
forces against the lower part of the town from opposite 
points. 

The attacks were made between 4 and 5 o'clock, on the 
31st of December, in a tremendous snow-storm; and the 
firing of rockets was intended for the signal. 

Brown and Livingstone, detained by the snow and other 
obstacles, were too late to execute their feints. 

Montgomery led his men to the attack. On approaching 
the first barrier a panic seized the Canadians, and they threw 
down their arms and fled. But as the Americans approached, 
the road was so much obstructed by enormous piles of snow, 
that its removal became necessary. This being effected, 
they passed one by one, and having assembled 200 men, the 
general encouraged them to advance rapidly to take the bar- 
rier. One of the Canadians, some daring fellow, on seeing 
the Americans halt, returned to the battery, and finding one 
of the matches still burning, he fired a cannon loaded with 
grape-shot. Montgomery, Macpherson, and Cheesman, with 
several others, who had been only forty paces off*, were killed. 
The troops fled and abandoned the enterprise. 

The Americans under Arnold advanced rapidly ihrouwh a 
passage obstructed by a large quantity of snow, under the 
fire of grape-shot from the besieged. Receiving a wound in 
the leg from a musket-ball, which fractured the bone, he was 
carried to the hospital almost by force. This was an unlucky 
leg, for at the battle of Saratoga it was grievously wounded 
again. No one, we hope, will find fault with the word leg — 
we detest, above all things, a false modesty. To say that a 
man was wounded in an extremity leaves the sense ambigu- 
ous as to whether it was a moral or a physical extremity — 
an upper or a lower extremity: in short, we have always 
been of the opinion that this pseudo-delicacy — this stammer- 
ing, hesitating evasion of a proper name leads the mind, 
more than anything else, to mischief. A refined mind should 



268 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775. 



never resort to such ridiculous auxiliaries. With this 
wounded leg we have limped from our subject. 

Captain Morgan has taken the command. He rushes 
against the first battery, and his celebrated riflemen kill the 
enemy through the embrasures. Ladders are applied to the 
parapets, and the first battery is taken, together with a num- 
ber of prisoners. A few brave men had followed Morgan, 
but the rest had not yet time to join him. Here they stood, 
in a strange place, unacquainted with the city, involved in 
darkness, and pelted by the pitiless storm; the roar of artillery 
and of musketry shakes the ground ; the flash of fire lights up, 
momentarily, the awful scene, then again it is involved in 
additional gloom. Despair would have seized upon ordinary 
men, but Morgan rallied his riflemen, hurried towards the 
next barrier, followed by Lieutenant-Colonel Green, Majors 
Bigelow and Meigs. The second battery was attacked as 
the morning dawned ; and as the enemy sallied out, under 
Captain Anderson, to summon the Americans to lay down 
their arms, Morgan levelled his rifle at the captain's head 
and stretched him on the ground. The British, surprised at 
such audacity, scampered off" rather abruptly, hid themselves 
behind the battery, and shut the barrier. An attempt was 
next made to scale the second barrier, but, to their astonish- 
ment, they saw two files of soldiers, with a forest of bayonets, 
ready to receive them. Alarmed by a fire in their rear and 
flank, the soldiers retired into the houses, while Morgan, 
almost alone, called upon them to return. A retreat was at 
last sounded, when surrounded by enemies, and Morgan pro- 
posed to his followers to fight their way through them; 
but hoping that Montgomery might soon come to their relief, 
they refused to expose themselves to the consequences of such 
a desperate attempt, and remained in the houses, defending 
themselves. The enemy continued to pour in from other parts 
of the city, indicating the failure of Montgomery's detach- 
ment ; and, having lost all hope of escaping, Morgan, with 
his immediate followers, made a virtue of necessity, and sur- 
rendered, when each became a kind of caged lion, proud, 
dignified, and undaunted. 



1775.] REVOLUTION. 269 



The garrison of Quebec consisted of about 1500 men ; the 
number of Americans, at the time of the attack, were 800. 
The Americans lost, in killed and wounded, 100, and 300 
were taken prisoners. Montgomery was found the day after 
the attack, with a wound in each thigh, and one in the head. 

The following occurs in Lee's memoirs : " When Morgan 
was in confinement at Quebec, the following anecdote, told 
by himself, manifests the high opinion entertained by the 
enemy of his military talents, from his conduct in this assault. 
He was visited occasionally by a British officer, to him un- 
known ; but, from his uniform, he appeared to belong to the 
navy, and to be an officer of distinction. During one of his 
visits, after conversing upon many topics, he asked Morgan 
if he did not begin to be convinced that the resistance of 
America was visionary ; and he endeavoured to impress him 
with the disastrous consequences which must infallibly ensue, 
if the idle attempt were persevered in, and very kindly ex- 
horted him to renounce the ill-advised undertaking. He 
declared, with seeming sincerity and candour, his admiration 
of Morgan's spirit and enterprise, which, he said, were worthy 
of a better cause ; and told him, if he would agree to with- 
draw from the American, and join the British standard, he 
was authorized to promise him the commission, rank, and 
emoluments of a colonel in the royal army." Morgan 
rejected the proposal with disdain ; and concluded his reply 
by observing, " that he hoped he would never again insult him 
in his distressed and unfortunate situation, by making him 
offers which plainly implied that he thought him a rascal." 
The officer withdrew, and the offer was never repeated. 

After the repulse, Arnold retired and encamped for the 
winter about three miles from Quebec, to convert the siege 
into a blockade. After entrenching himself, he scoured the 
country to intercept the provisions intended for the city. 
The governor, satisfied with the possession of his capital, 
quietly waited for reinforcements from England. In tlie 
spring of 1776, Arnold, finding his forces inadequate for the 
reduction of Quebec, and receiving no reinforcements, re- 
tired. The Americans, after being obliged to relinquish 



270 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775-6. 



one post after another, had entirely evacuated Canada about 
the 18th of June. 

Thus ended one of the most wonderful adventures that the 
history of the world furnishes — a theme fit for the poet, the 
painter and the novelist, for here truth is stranger than fiction. 
If the expedition did not succeed fully, it did so in many 
respects ; but the greatest effect it produced was its moral 
influence. Such an illustration of the spirit of patriotism, 
whether on a large or a small scale, often accomplishes more 
than bloody and victorious battles, by the influence it has 
upon the minds of men. 

The reader will remember that some pages back (p. 232), 
we left a wrathy governor a voluntary prisoner in his own 
strongly fortified palace. This was Lord Dunmore of Vir- 
ginia. What has become of him it is now our business to 
inquire. He says (and we have no disposition to doubt his 
words) that his present residence is on board the Fowey man- 
of-war, anchored near Yorktown. He declares that himself 
and family had been exposed to a furious multitude, and he 
had thought it prudent to take refuge in a place of safety. 
The Assembly tell him that if he had acquainted them with 
his fears before leaving, they would have taken measures for 
the security of himself and his family ; and then invite him 
to return. But he refuses, and tells them that they might 
send the bills on board his armed ship for examination. AW 
intercourse was soon at an end, and the governor, or rather 
ex-governor, issued his proclamations, instituting martial law, 
and proffering freedom to those slaves vjho would repair to the 
B7^itish standai^d ! Such cowardly proceedings merited the 
contempt of every generous mind. If an enemy is honoura- 
ble, we may respect him though we detest his cause ; but 
mean conduct compels us to pity or despise the man. Such 
a hero as Dunmore, of course, did not remain idle. He equip- 
ped and armed a number of other vessels, and as the provin- 
cials refused him provisions, instead of waging ordinary war? 
he proceeded to reduce Hampton to ashes, and wage a kind 
of piratical war. Again he came to shore at Norfolk, situ- 
ated near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, on the Elizabeth 



1775-6.] REVOLUTION. 271 



river, where a few loyalists and a very few frightened darkeys 
joined him ; and, after defeating a handful of militia hastily 
assembled, the governor already considered himself a Ca3sar, 
and had great hopes of re-conquering his province ! The 
governor next entrenched himself in a strong position on the 
Elizabeth river with his amalgamated army. 

The Virginians threw up entrenchments within cannon- 
shot of the enemy. Dunmore sent Captain Fordyce to dis- 
lodge them, but being killed, and many of the troops killed 
and wounded, the rest retired. The negroes, of course, 
showed the white of the eye and ran. The governor re- 
embarked, but returning some time after, and demanding 
food in vain, he burnt the town of Norfolk, on the 1st of 
January, 1776. About 6000 inhabitants were thus deprived 
of their homes. After this he joined General Howe at New 
York. 

" — Sea-nursed Norfolk lights the neighbouring plains. 
From realm to realm the smoky volumes bend, 
Reach round the bays and up the streams extend ; 
Deep o'er the concave heavy wreaths are roll'd, 
And midland towns and distant groves infold. 
Through solid curls of smoke, the bursting fires 
Climb in tall pyramids above the spires. 
Concentring all the wmds ; whose forces, driven 
With equal rage from every point of heaven, 
Whirl into conflict, round the scantling pour 
The twisting flames, and through the rafl;ers roar, 
Suck up the cinders, send them sailing far, 
To warn the nations of the raging war. 
Bend high the blazing vortex, swell'd and curl'd. 
Careering, brightening o'er the lustred world. 
Absorb the reddenmg clouds that round them run, 
Lick the pale stars, and mock their absent sun : 
Seas catch the splendour, kindling skies resound. 
And felling structures shake the smouldering ground. 

Crowds of wild fugitives, with frantic tread. 
Flit through the flames that pierce the midnight shade, 
Back on the burning domes revert their eyes. 
Where some lost friend, some perish'd infant lies; 
Their raaun'd, their sick, their age-enfeebled sires 
Have sunk sad victims to the sateless fires. 



272 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1775-6. 

They greet with one last look their tottering walls, 
See the blaze thicken, as the ruin fells, 
Then o'er the country train their dumb despair, 
And fer behind them leave the dancing glare ; 
Their own crush'd roofs still lend a trembling light, 
Point their long shadows and direct their flight ; 
Till wandering wide tliey seek some cottage door. 
Ask the vile pittance due the vagrant poor ; 
Or, faint and faltering on the devious road, 
They sink at last, and yield their mortal load." 

The royal governors of other colonies took refuge on board 
of the English shipping, and royal government generally, by 
this abdication, terminated with the year 1775. 

4 



CHAPTER VI. 

Blockade of Boston turned into a Siege — Americans fortify Dorchester Heights 
— Astonishment of the Enemy — Evacuate Boston— Sail to Halifax— Washington 
takes Possession of Boston. 

" The cannons have their bowels full of wrath ; 
And ready-mounted are they to spit forth 
Their iron indignation 'gainst your walls." 

" Look, my lord !" * * * 

" Angels and ministers of grace defend us !" 

The garrison of Boston saw its sphere of operations, in 
procuring provisions, diminish from day to day. Not only 
had Washington encouraged the frequent skirmishes about 
Boston with this view, and to keep up the spirit of the Ame- 
ricans, and accustom them to the din of arms and the encoun- 
ter of the enemy, but a decree of Congress prohibiting the 
exportation of provisions from the colonies to Canada, Nova 
Scotia, the island of St. John, Newfoundland and the Flori- 
das, made provisions so scarce in these places that the inha- 
bitants were themselves in want. If the British attempted 
to land and forage along the coast of the colonies, they were 
attacked and beaten back by the provincials. The enemy 
now became desperate ; and one of their ships, laden with the 



-ll 

1776.] REVOLUTION. 273 

effects of some loyalists, being attacked by the inhabitants of 
Falmouth, Massachusetts, they bombarded the town, and 
then sent a detachment on shore to set it on fii'e and reduce 
it to ashes. The Assembly of Massachusetts, who had already 
ordained the armament of some vessels to protect the coast, 
now decreed that letters of marque and reprisal should be 
granted, and that admiralty courts should be established to 
decide on the validity of the prizes. 

With a view to intercept the enemy's navigation and pro- 
tect the coasts of the colonies, Congress decreed that a fleet 
of five ships of thirty-two guns, five of twenty-eight, and 
three of twenty-four, should be built and armed. Two were 
to be constructed in Massachusetts, one in New Hampshire, 
one in Connecticut, two in Rhode Island, two in New York, 
four in Pennsylvania, and one in Maryland. These vessels 
were equipped with great despatch, and the command of the 
squadron was given to Commodore Hopkins. Congress also 
created courts of admiralty, and authorized the capture of the 
ships in the service of the enemy, or which should lend them 
any assistance. 

To their great amazement, the enemy soon saw swarms of 
American vessels along the coast ; not only the squadron of 
Congress, but also the Massachusetts cruisers. These took 
an immense number of prizes, and rivalled the enemy on an 
element on which they had hitherto experienced no opposition 
from the provincials. The American vessels, hiding behind 
the great number of little islands along the coast, suddenly 
darted out and took the enemy's ships, loaded with provisions. 
By these means they not only cut off the provisions and fuel, 
but the arms and ammunition sent over from England, of 
which the provincials stood much in need, were also taken. 

While Washington was thus gradually closing every door and 

avenue to Boston, by land and sea, not only cutting off the 

provisions of the enemy, but diminishing the chances of escape, 

he began to contemplate the best mode of taking John Bull 

by the horns ; of making the whole British army prisoners, 

and of destroying the British squadron in the port and bay. 

Encouraged and urged by Congress to brave all dangers in 
_ __ 



274 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



terminating the siege of Boston, before the arrival of rein- 
forcements from England, when the services of the American 
army would be required elsewhere, Washington arranged a 
plan to take the city by assault. Calling his generals together, 
he proposed to them his plan of attack. The majority, how- 
ever, opposed the plan ; and it was finally agreed that the 
Dorchester Heights should be occupied ; which commanding 
Boston and its harbour, the enemy would be forced to eva- 
cuate the city. This plan was preferred, as being attended 
with less risk than the other. The prudence and sagacity of 
the commander-in-chief, in estimating the probable issue of 
such an undertaking, constrains us to believe, that had his 
plan been carried into effect, the result would have been the 
capture of the British army. 

The Americans, to mask their real design, opened batteries 
at various points, which incessantly fulminated with a terrible 
roar, on the night of March 2d, 1776. The darkness of the 
night was dissipated by the continual blaze. The bombs fell 
thick and fast in Boston ; the houses were fired again and 
again, and the garrison were labouring continually in extin- 
guishing the flames. Not suspecting that such a furious at- 
taclrof cannon and bombs was a mere feint, the enemy had 
no fear of danger from any other quarter. 

On the evening of the 4th of March, the Americans pro- 
ceeded silently towards the peninsula of Dorchester. The 
darkness of the night, the favourable course of the wind, 
carrying away the unavoidable noise, and the continual deaf- 
ening roar and thunder of the numerous batteries employed 
in the^em^, all favoured the enterprise. 

The van-guard, consisting of 1200 men, was followed by the 
carriages containing the entrenching tools. In the rear-guard 
were 300 carts of bundles of hay, fascines, &c., to cover the 
flanks of the troops in passing the isthmus of Dorchester, ex- 
posed to be raked on both sides by the guns on the British 
ships. Arriving upon the eminences, they commenced the 
work in excellent spirits, and with such surprising activity, 
that by morning they had two forts constructed, one on each 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 275 

hill, (rising up abruptly from the surrounding land to a con- 
siderable height,) which completely sheltered them. 

In the morning, when the darkness was dissipated, the 
surprise and alarm of the enemy were extreme ; the golden 
dreams of conquest and of fame flitted away like the " baseless 
fabrics of a vision," and they stood aghast, as if MENE, 
MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN, had been written in charac- 
ters of fire on the Heights of Dorchester. 

" No alternative remained now for the besieged," says 
Stedman, writing for the British, " but to dislodge the prpvin- 
cials from their new works, or evacuate the town. To succeed 
in the former was impossible, for the British troops must have 
ascended an almost perpendicular eminence, on the top of 
which the Americans had prepared hogsheads, chained to- 
gether in great numbers, and filled with stones, to roll down 
upon them as they marched up : a curious provision, by which 
whole columns would have been swept off at once. This 
species of preparation will exemplify, in a striking manner, 
that fertility of genius in expedients, which strongly character- 
ized the Americans during the war. This would effectually 
have destroyed all order, and have broken the ranks." 

Admiral Howe, after examining the works, declared that, 
if the Americans were not dislodged from their position, his 
vessels could no longer remain in safety in the harbour. The 
city itself might be converted into a heap of ruins by the 
provincials. 

General Howe, brother of the admiral, and successor to 
General Gage, had at one time concluded to attack the colo- 
nists. He ordered ladders to be prepared to scale the walls, 
but the ebb of the tide and the tempestuous winds defeated 
his object, while, in the mean time, the Americans erected a 
third redoubt, and Washington aroused his soldiers to be 
ready to take Boston, either during the battle or immediately 
after the defeat of the enemy, before they could recover from 
the confusion. 

The British now began to calculate the cost of victory, even 
if successful. They had not yet forgotten Bunker's Hill, 
which was less elevated, and the works less perfect. 



- p-"-^-"---- -'■ - - ■ - ■" 

276 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 

But if the enemy found insurmountable obstacles staring 
them in the face, discouraging the attempt to dislodge the 
provincials, while the destruction of their ships and even 
their own imprisonment formed unwelcome ideas in their 
haughty minds, a retreat in the face of the enemy under the 
cannon's mouth, controlled by exasperated men, promised no 
auspicious departure. 

" Now," said a man ' fou and unco happy,' holding on to a 
post on the edge of a Philadelphia wharf, on a cold winter 
night, " if I hold on I shall perish with the cold ; if I let go 
I shall be drowned in the river." The situation of this man 
thus illustrates the condition of Howe and his army. 

In this awkward dilemma, Howe assembled some of the 
selectmen of Boston, and told them that the city being no 
longer of any use to the king, he was resolved to abandon it, if 
Washington did not oppose it. He represented to them all 
the horrors of a battle within the walls of the city ; and, at 
the same time, pointed to the combustible materials ready to 
fire the city in case he was molested. With this intelligence 
he sent them to Washington, and Washington sent Howe to 
Halifax ! or at least allowed him to depart 



The Americans remained quiet, and the English began to 
retreat. Boston now presented a melancholy appearance; 
about 1500 loyalists, with their families, hastened to gather 
up their most valuable effects, and abandon their homes ; fa- 
thers are carrying loads on their backs ; mothers, almost 
frantic with grief and despair, drag their little whiteheads 
through the streets towards the ships that are to take them 
from their homes and their country, under the most gloomy 
circumstances. Frightful tumults, arising from quarrels and 
fights for the beasts of burden and carts, to remove furniture, 
disturb the streets. The soldiers force the doors to rob the 
houses and shops, and wantonly destroy what they cannot 
carry away. 

Adverse winds detained the enemy for some time, but on 
the 17th of March they embarked, and, in vessels overladen 
with men and baggage, but scant in provisions, they set sail 
for Halifax, situated in a sterile country, as their only resort. 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 277 



not being in a condition to land forcibly in any part of the 
colonies. They left behind, at Boston and at Castle Island, 
250 pieces of cannon, half of which were serviceable, 4 thir- 
teen and a half inch mortars (to fire bombs withal), 2500 
chaldrons of sea-coal, 25,000 bushels of wheat, 2300 bushels 
of barley, 600 bushels of oats, 100 jars of oil, and 150 
horses. — Tres apropos. 

As the rear-guard of the enemy were leaving the city, 
Washington entered it on the other side with colours (now 
striped with thirteen lists) floating proudly over his army, 
drums beating, and all the forms of victory and triumph. 

The people, relieved from the outrages to which they had 
been exposed for sixteen months by a rude and insolent 
soldiery, as well as from hunger and cold, received Washing- 
ton with every demonstration of joy and gratitude, so richly 
merited by their deliverer. 

" Beside liim, Justice trims her scale, 

And Freedom's songs arise ; 
Fresh laurels bloom upon his brow, 

And Fame before him flies. 
O mighty chief, around thy head 

Shall Victory's banner wave. 
And future millions bless the name 

Of Washington the brave. 

In silent sadness, weeping, lay • 

Columbia's daughters low, 
Their tresses bound with mantle gray, 

Their cheeks were pale with wo ; 
' O mighty Heaven ! protect,' they cried, 

'All those we cannot leave !' 
Their prayers were heard ; and all rejoin 

In Washington the brave." 



278 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776' 



CHAPTER VII. 

Plan of the British Government to subdue the Colonies — Fleet sent from Ireland 
— War in North Carolina — Defeat of Macdonald— Siege of Charleston, South Ca- 
rolina — Defeat of the British Fleet — Resolution to declare the Colonies free and 
independent States — Lee's Speech — Declaration of Independence — Its Effects on 
the American People. 

"And who is he that wields the might 

Of Freedom on the green sea -brink, 
Before whose sabre's dazzling light 

The eyes of British warriors wink?" 
******* 

" One who, no more than mortal brave, 
Fought for the land his soul adored. 

For happier homes and altars free — 
His only talisman the sword, 

His only spell-word. Liberty !" 

Some of the former governors of the colonies, burning with 
revenge, or actuated by a natural desire to regain their former 
power, argued the British government into the belief, that if 
the mother country would provide a respectable force to co- 
operate with the loyalists, they would at once rally under 
their banners ; but that, at present, they were restrained from 
taking an active part against the Americans. 

Extremely credulous (a weakness of human nature) in 
everything that flattered their pride and vanity, the ministers 
resolved to aim an overwhelming blow at the southern pro- 
vinces. From these they would take the middle and northern 
colonies in flank ; while the front and rear of these colonies 
would be assailed from the sea and from Canada. By such 
an infallible plan, they expected soon to reduce the Americans 
to submission. But they were most egregiously mistaken, as 
men, who calculate too much upon the infallibility of poor, 
blundering, /a/Zt7>/e bipeds, have ever been, since man had a 
being. This character we give of man in comparison with 
God, to whom, alone, belongs the attribute of infallibility. 

The fleet sent from Ireland, in command of Lord Cornwallis, 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 279 

under the convoy of Sir Peter Parker, to co-operate with the 
loyalists, first in North Carolina ; then with those of South 
Carolina ; retarded by storms and contrary winds, arrived at 
Cape Fear, in North Carolina, on the 3d of May, after a 
voyage of nearly three months. Here they joined General 
Clinton, who, at the head of a considerable corps, had quitted 
Boston in December, and having been unable to execute his 
design of attacking Virginia, he now, from seniority, took the 
command in chief. 

Governor Martin, who had taken refuge on board of the 
vessels of the king, calculating upon a timely assistance from 
England, erected the royal standard in North Carolina, sum- 
moning the loyalists to rally around it in defence of the 
country and against rebels. He named Colonel Macdonald, 
Captain-General of all the levies, a man warmly attached to 
the royal cause. They assembled at Cross Creek, where 
their numbers increased daily, until they assumed rather a 
threatening appearance. The patriots, however, were not 
idle. The provincial Assembly despatched all the militia in 
preparation against them, and caused others to be assembled 
from every part of the colony. The patriots were com- 
manded by General Moore, with whom Macdonald attempted 
to negotiate. Moore had the address to prolong the negotia- 
tion until his forces, increasing daily, became superior to 
those of his adversary, when a regular chase ensued, and 
Macdonald, in his marches, interposed forests, rivers, &c., 
between himself and his pursuers, to baffle them in their 
attempt to cut off his retreat. After a chase of 80 miles, 
Macdonald arrived at Moore's Creek, 16 miles from Wil- 
mington, where he expected to join Governor Martin and 
General Clinton, who had already arrived at Cape Fear. 
The patriots, in close pursuit, not only prevented the junc- 
tion, but compelled him to fight : his troops were soon seized 
with a panic, and ran away from their general, who was 
made prisoner, with many other loyalists. 

This untimely movement ruined the royal cause in North 
Carolina ; and as the trade carried on from Charleston, South 
Carolina, was the source from which the provincials derived 



280 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



the means for the warlike preparations of the south, it was 
supposed that its reduction would not only stop the trade, 
but, holding the capital, they expected to be able to terrify 
the entire province into submission. 

The city being situated upon the very coast, where the 
enemy's boasted naval power might be brought into requisi- 
tion, they considered this operation required nothing more 
than to come, to see, and to conquer. 

In referring to a map of South Carolina, the reader will 
find that Sullivan's Island is situated on a part of the sea six 
miles from a point of land, formed by the confluence of Ash- 
ley and Cooper rivers, and upon which Charleston is situated. 
This island, upon which stands a fort, commands the chanfiel 
leading to the port, and no vessel could enter without passing 
under the cannon of the fort, which was now armed with 36 
pieces of heavy cannon and 26 smaller. 

The militia of the whole province are called to the defence 
of this city, and the call is quickly obeyed. In a few days 
6000 men had assembled with fire-arms, with spades, or axes. 
Entrenchments were thrown up along the shore, and the 
roads leading to the sea were obstructed by abattis. One 
regiment was sent to guard James' Island, three miles from 
Charleston, which commands the whole breadth of the chan- 
nel ; the second and third were sent to occupy Sullivan's 
Island. The second was commanded by William Moultrie, 
who was charged with the defence of the fort, which now 
bears his name: The rest of the troops were distributed in 
various places, all under the command of General Lee. 

The whole British fleet, now proceeding to Charleston, 
arrived there on the 4th of June. The fleet consisted of the 
Bristol and Experiment of 50 guns ; four frigates, the Active, 
the Acteon, the Solebay, and the Syren, of 28 ; the Sphinx 
of 20, the Friendship of 24, two small vessels of 8, and the 
Thunder bomb. 

The enemy having constructed two batteries of cannon 
and mortars on Long Island, to answer those of the Ameri- 
cans, and co-operate with the floating battery destined to 
cover the landing of the troops on Sullivan's Island, resolved 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 281 

to commence the reduction of the fort on the 28th of June, as 
a necessary step to the taking of the city. At a quarter past 
eleven, all the ships having got springs upon their cables, 
opened a tremendous cannonade upon the fort. Three of the 
frigates got aground, two of which hove oft', but the Acteon 
stuck fast, and was set on fire the next morning, to prevent 
her falling into the hands of the Americans. The Thunder, 
by the time she had discharged about sixty bombs, found 
herself so disabled by the fire from the fort, that she discon- 
tinued her thunder. The enemy's fleet now hailed a tem- 
pest of balls upon the fort, and Colonel Moultrie, with 375 
regulars, and a few militia, hurled the iron tempest back 
again with such cool and deliberate aim, as to produce great 
havoc among the English ships. Again and again the terrible 
peals come booming over the sea, and the distant sea-monsters 
raise their uncouth heads in amazement. Captain Morris, 
who commanded the Acteon, which was stranded, had already 
received several wounds, and nearly all his men were killed. 
Admiral Parker himself was somewhat bruised. The rigging 
of some of the vessels was torn into fragments, the sport of 
the winds, which exposed them to the fire of the Americans, 
until they v*'ere in danger of being sunk. 

"At the same time," says Stedman, " that the fleet began 
firing, the batteries on Long Island opened. At 12 o'clock, 
the light infantry, grenadiers, and the fifteenth regiment, em- 
barked in boats ; the floating batteries and armed craft getting 
under way at the same time, to cover their landing on Sulli- 
van's Island. Scarcely, however, had the detachment pro- 
ceeded from Long Island, before they were ordered to disem- 
bark and return to their encampment. And it must be 
confessed that, if they had landed, they would have had to 
struggle with difficulties almost insurmountable. The ground 
on which the fort stood was insulated, by a broad and deep 
trench cut across the island, and this canal under the imme- 
diate command of the guns of fort Sullivan." 

The ships still continued an incessant fire upon the fort, 
which was returned with great spirit, until about two o'clock, 
when the firing of the fort gradually died away into silence ! 

36 Y*^ 



282 THE ARMY APrP NAVY. [1776. 



Is it the stillness of death, or does prudence teach them they 
must for the present yield to the foe ? Already do the enemy 
exult in a victory they esteem as secure. But, hark ! the 
roar begins again — see, the fire flashes to the sky; the enemy's 
ships quail under the shock ; the rigging again falls ; the 
splinters are again hurled far out into the sea ; the blood of 
the slain again flows over the slippery decks ; the sudden 
cries and the dying groans of the wounded are again mingled 
with the awful din of war, and the last faint spark of hope 
the enemy have of victory, trembles at the heart, then dies. 
The ammunition of the Americans had failed, but they have 
received a supply. 

This furious cannonade continued until between nine and 
ten o'clock. 

" In this day's attack," says the enemy's own historian, 
" the Bristol and Experiment suflfered most ; the fire of the 
enemy being principally directed against them, they were 
left almost wrecks upon the water. Early on the morning 
of the 29th, the light infantry, grenadiers, and the fifteenth 
regiment were again embarked, and almost immediately after- 
wards ordered to disembark. In this inactive state did af- 
fairs remain until the 15th of July, when orders were issued 
to the troops to embark on board the transports. Sir H. 
Clinton had been greatly deceived in his information. The 
passage was not fordable in the rear of the fort ; for Sir 
Henry and several other oflicers waded up to their shoulders, 
and then, on finding that the dejUh of water increased, returned. 
On putting the boats, in which were the artillery, into the 
water, it was found that they let in the water so fast, that 
they must sink." 

" The officers and men of the artillery who were in them 
had nearly been lost." Poor fellows ; this war is dangerous 
business at best, and as the shores of Sullivan's Island on the 
other side of this arm of the sea look rather formidable, it 
was perhaps a fortunate thing that they loaded their boats 
so heavily as to be obliged to return. Well, men will get 
mischievous ideas into their heads : if any one thinks that we 
allude to their heavy load as an excuse not to go to the other 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 283 



side, — why, he is not much mistaken. Not that we doubt 
Sir Henry's courage, but Sir Henry would sooner not fight 
than to be driven back, for glory is not won at all times by 
such defeat, and it often plucks a feather, sometimes a hand- 
ful, out of the cap. So, my boys, we better cari't get over. 

In addition to what we have already quoted from Sted- 
man, it may be remarked, that, after the fire of the 28th, the 
enemy, finding his vessels in a most deplorable condition, and 
not seeing Sir Henry Clinton take the fort in the rear, deter- 
mined to abandon the enterprise. The next morning the 
ships were already two miles from the island ; and, after hav- 
ing re-embarked the troops, they sailed for New- York, on the 
15th of July, where they expected the commander-in-chief, 
General Howe. 

The fort was constructed of palmetto wood, which, being 
soft and spongy, broke the impetus of the balls without doing 
much injury. It was as good as cotton hags, behind which 
another hero has since immortalized his name. Some idea 
may be formed of the enemy's fire from the fact that 7000 
loose balls were picked up on Sullivan's Island after the en- 
gagement. These, I presume, the Americans afterwards sent 
back again. 

The British in this terrible battle had not only their ships 
nearly torn to pieces, but 200 men were killed and wounded, 
while the loss of the Americans was but 10 killed and 22 
wounded. 

Congress voted their thanks to Major-General Lee, to Col. 
Moultrie, to Col. Thompson, and to all the officers and sol- 
diers, all having displayed equal courage and bravery in this 
successful defence. 

The following we find in Goodrich, from M'Call's Georgia : 

"Among the American troops who resisted the British, in 
their attack on fort Moultrie, was a Sergeant Jasper, whose 
name has been given to one of the counties in Georgia, in 
commemoration of his gallant deeds, and who deserves an 
honourable notice in every history of his country. In the 
warmest part of the contest, the flag-staflf was severed by a 
cannon-ball, and the flag fell to the bottom of the ditch, on 



284 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 

the outside of the works. This accident was considered, by 
the anxious inhabitants of Charleston, as putting an end to 
the contest, by striking the American flag to the enemy. The 
moment Jasper made the discovery that the flag had fallen, 
he jumped from one of the embrasures and took up the flag, 
which he tied to a post and replaced it on the parapet, where 
he supported it until another flag-staff was procured. 

" The subsequent activity and enterprise of this patriot 
induced Colonel Moultrie to give him a sort of roving com- 
mission, to go and come at pleasure, confident that he was 
always usefully employed. He was privileged to select such 
men from the regiment as he should choose, to accompany 
him in his enterprises. His parties consisted, generally, of 
five or six, and he often returned with prisoners before Moul- 
trie was apprised of his absence. Jasper was distinguished 
for his humane treatment when an enemy fell into his power. 
His ambition appears to have been limited to the character- 
istics of bravery, humanity, and usefulness to the cause in 
which he was engaged. By his cunning and enterprise, he 
often succeeded in the capture of those who were lying in 
ambush for him. He entered the British lines, and remained 
several days in Savannah, in disguise, and, after informing 
himself of their strength and intentions, returned to the Ame- 
rican camp with useful information to his commanding 
ofiicer. 

" In one of these excursions, an instance of bravery and hu- 
manity is recorded by the biographer of General Marion, 
which could not be credited if it was not well attested. 
While he was examining the British camp at Ebenezer, all 
the sympathy of his heart was awakened by the distresses of 
a Mrs. Jones, whose husband, an American by birth, had 
taken the king's protection, and been confined in irons for de- 
serting the royal cause, after he had taken the oath of alle- 
giance. Her well-founded belief was, that nothing short of 
the life of her husband would atone for the offence with which 
he was charged. Anticipating the awful scene of a beloved 
husband expiring on the gibbet, had excited inexpressible 
emotions of grief and distraction. Jasper secretly consulted 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 285 

with his companion, Sergeant Newton, whose feelings for 
the distressed female and her child were equally excited with 
his own, upon the practicability of releasing Jones from his 
impending fate. Though they were unable to suggest a plan 
of operation, they were determined to watch for the most fa- 
vourable opportunity, and make the effort. 

The departure of Jones and several others, all in irons, to 
Savannah for trial, under a guard consisting of a sergeant, 
corporal, and eight men, was ordered upon the succeeding 
morning. Within two miles of Savannah, about thirty yards 
from the main road, is a spring of fine water, surrounded by 
a deep and thick underwood, where travellers often halt to 
refresh themselves with a cool draught from this pure foun- 
tain. Jasper and his companion selected this spot as the most 
favourable for their enterprise. They accordingly passed the 
ground, and concealed themselves near the spring. 

When the enemy came up, they halted, and two of the 
guard only remained with the prisoners, while the others 
leaned their guns against trees in a careless manner, and 
went to the spring. Jasper and Newton sprung from their 
place of concealment, seized two of the muskets, and shot the 
sentinels. The possession of all the arms placed the enemy 
in their power, and compelled them to surrender. The irons 
were taken off from the prisoners, and arms put into their 
hands. The whole party arrived at Perryburg the next 
morning, and joined the American camp. There are but few 
instances upon record where personal exertions, even for self- 
preservation from certain prospect of death, would have in- 
duced a resort to an act so desperate of execution ; how much 
more laudable was this, where the spring to action was roused 
by the lamentations of a female unknown to the adventurers ! 
" Those falling drops by woman shed, 
Full many a captured heart have led." 

" Subsequently to the gallant defence at Sullivan's Island, 
Colonel Moultrie's regiment was presented with a stand of 
colours by Mrs. Elliot, which she had richly embroidered 
with her own hands ; and, as a reward to Jaspers particular 
merits, Governor Rutledge presented him with a very hand- 



286 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



some sword. During the assault against Savannah, two offi- 
cers had been killed and one w^ounded, endeavouring to plant 
these colours upon the enemy's parapet of the Springhill re- 
doubt. Just before the retreat was ordered, Jasper endea- 
voured to replace them upon the works, and while he was in 
the act, received a mortal wound and fell into the ditch. 
When a retreat was ordered, he recollected the honorable 
condition upon which the donor presented the colours to his 
regiment, and among the last acts of his life, succeeded in 
bringing them off. 

Major Horry called to see him soon after the retreat, to 
whom, it is said, he made the following communication : " I 
have got my furlough. That sword was presented to me by 
Governor Rutledge, for my services in the defence of fort 
Moultrie. Give it to my father, and tell him I have worn it 
with honour. If he should weep, tell him his son died in the 
hope of a better life. Tell Mrs. Elliot that I lost my life, 
supporting the colours which she presented to our regiment. 
If you should ever see Jones, his wife and son, tell them that 
Jasper is gone ; but, that the remembrance of the battle which 
he fought for them, brought a secret joy to his heart when it 
was about to stop its motion forever." He expired a few 
minutes after closing this sentence. 

The unrelenting and protracted obstinacy of the British 
government refusing to be just, and the successes of the 
Americans, especially at fort Moultrie, prepared their minds 
for independence. Congress, closely observing the tide of 
affairs, and the current of public opinion, seized on this fa- 
vourable opportunity to effect a total separation of the colo- 
nies from the mother country. 

Accordingly, on the 8th of June, a resolution was moved 
in Congress, by Richard Henry Lee, and seconded by John 
Adams, in the following words : 

" Resolved, that these United Colonies are, and of right 
ought to be, free and independent states ; and that all political 
connection between them and Great Britain is, and ought to 
be, dissolved." 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 287 



In support of this resolution Lee spoke as follows, and was 
heard with profound attention : 

" 1 know not, whether among all the civil discords which 
have been recorded by historians, and which have been ex- 
cited either by love of liberty in the people or by the ambi- 
tion of princes, there has ever been presented a deliberation, 
more interesting or more important than that which now en- 
gages our attention ; whether we consider the future destiny 
of this free and virtuous people, or that of our enemies them- 
selves; who, notwithstanding their tyranny and this cruel 
war, are still our brethren, and descended from a common 
stock ; or, finally, that of the other nations of the globe, 
whose eyes are intent upon the great spectacle, and who anti- 
cipate from our success more freedom for themselves, or from 
our defeat apprehend heavier chains and a severer bondage. 
For the question is not whether we shall acquire an increase 
of territorial dominion, or wickedly wrest from others their 
just possessions, but, whether we shall preserve, or lose for- 
ever, that liberty which we have inherited from our ancestors, 
which we have pursued across tempestuous seas, and which 
we have defended in this land against barbarous men, fero- 
cious beasts, and an inclement sky. And if so many and 
distinguished praises have always been lavished upon the 
generous defenders of Greek and of Roman liberty, what will 
be said of us, who defend a liberty which is founded, not 
upon the capricious will of an unstable multitude, but upon 
immutable statutes and tutelary laws ; not that which was 
the exclusive privilege of a few patricians, but that which 
is the property of all ; not that which was stained by iniqui- 
tous ostracisms, or the horrible decimation of armies, but 
that which is pure, temperate, and gentle, and conformed 
to the civilization of the present age. Why then do we longer 
procrastinate, and wherefore are these delays ? Let us com- 
plete the enterprise already so well commenced ; and since 
our union with England can no longer consist with that 
liberty and peace which are our chief delight, let us dissolve 
these fatal ties, and conquer forever that good which we al- 
ready enjoy ; an entire and absolute independence. 



288 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



" But ought I not to begin by observing that, if we have 
reached that violent extremity, beyond which nothing can 
any longer exist between America and England, but either 
such war or such peace as are made between foreign nations, 
this can only be imputed to the insatiable cupidity, the tyran- 
nical proceedings, and the outrages, for ten years reiterated, 
of the British ministers ? What have we not done to restore 
peace, to re-establish harmony ? Who has not heard our 
prayers, and who is ignorant of our supplications ? They 
have wearied the universe. England alone was deaf to our 
complaints, and wanted that compassion towards us, which 
we have found among all other nations. And as, at first, our 
forbearance, and then our resistance, have proved equally in- 
sufficient ; since our prayers were unavailing, as well as the 
blood lately shed, we must go further, and proclaim our in- 
dependence. Nor let any one believe that we have any other 
option left. The time will certainly come when the fated 
separation must take place, whether you will or no ; for so it 
is decreed by the very nature of things — the progressive in- 
crease of our population, the fertility of our soil, the extent 
of our territory, the industry of our countrymen, and the 
immensity of the ocean which separates the two states. And 
if this be true, as it is most true, who does not see that the 
sooner it takes place the better ; and that it would be not 
only imprudent, but the height of folly, not to seize the pre- 
sent occasion, when British injustice has filled all hearts with 
indignation, inspired all minds with courage, united all 
opinions in one, and put arms in every hand ? And how long 
must we traverse three thousand miles of a stormy sea, to go 
and solicit of arrogant and insolent men, either counsels or 
commands to regulate our domestic affairs? Does it not 
become a great, rich, and powerful nation, as we are, to look 
at home, and not abroad, for the government of its own con- 
cerns 1 And how can a ministry of strangers judge, with any 
discernment, of our interests, when they know not, and when 
it little imports them to know, what is good for us, and what 
is not ? The past justice of the British ministers should warn 
us against the future, if they should ever seize us again in 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 289 



their cruel claws. Since it has pleased our barbarous ene- 
mies to place before us the alternative of slavery or of inde- 
pendence, where is the generous minded man, and the lover 
of his country, who can hesitate to choose? With these per- 
fidious men no promise is secure, no pledges sacred. Let us 
suppose — which Heaven avert ! — that we are conquered ; let 
us suppose an accommodation. What assurance have we of 
the British moderation in victory or good faith in treaty ? Is 
it their having enlisted and let loose against us the ferocious 
Indians and the merciless soldiers of Germany? Is it that 
faith, so often pledged and so often violated in the course of 
the present contest ; this British faith, which is reputed more 
false than Punic ? We ought rather to expect, that when we 
shall have fallen, naked and unarmed into their hands, they 
will wreak upon us their fury and their vengeance ; they will 
load us with heavier chains, in order to deprive us not only 
of the power, but even of the hope of again recovering our 
liberty. But I am willing to admit, although it is a thing 
without example, that the British government will forget past 
offences and perform its promises ; can we imagine that after 
so long dissensions, after so many o-utrages, so many combats, 
and so much bloodshed, our reconciliation could be durable, 
and that every day, in the midst of so much hatred and ran- 
cour, would not afford fresh subject of animosity ? The two 
nations are already separated in interest and affections ; the 
one is conscious of its ancient strength, the other has become 
acquainted with its newly exerted force ; the one desires to 
rule in an arbitrary manner, the other will not obey, even if 
allowed its privileges. In such a state of things, what peace, 
what concord can be expected 1 The Americans may become 
faithful friends to the English, but subjects, never. And even 
though union could be restored without rancour, it could not 
without danger. The wealth and power of Great Britain 
should inspire prudent men with fears for the future. Having 
reached such a height of grandeur that she has no longer any 
thing to dread from foreign powers, in the security of peace 
the spirit of her people will decay ; manners will be corrupted; 

her youth will grow up in the midst of vice; and in this state 
_ _ 



290 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



of degeneration, England will become the prey of a foreign 
enemy, or an ambitious citizen. If we remain united with 
her, we shall partake of her corruptions and misfortunes, the 
more to be dreaded as they will be irreparable ; separated 
from her, on the contrary, as we are, we should neither have 
to fear the seductions of peace, nor the dangers of war. By 
a declaration of our freedom, the perils would not be increased; 
but we should add to the ardour of our defenders, and to the 
splendour of victory. 

" Let us then take a firm step, and escape from this laby- 
rinth ; we have assumed the sovereign power, and dare not 
confess it ; we disobey a king, and acknowledge ourselves his 
subjects ; wage war against a people, whom we incessantly 
protest our desire to defend. What is the consequence of so 
many inconsistencies? Hesitation paralyzes all our mea- 
sures ; the way we ought to pursue is not marked out ; our 
generals are neither respected nor obeyed, our soldiers have 
neither confidence nor zeal ; feeble at home, and little con- 
sidered abroad, foreign princes can neither esteem nor suc- 
cour so timid and wavering a people. But independence once 
proclaimed, and our object avowed, more manly and decided 
measures will be adopted ; all minds will be fired by the 
greatness of the enterprise, the civil magistrates will be in- 
spired with new zeal, the generals with fresh ardour, and the 
citizens with greater constancy, to attain so high and so glo- 
rious a destiny. There are some who seem to dread the 
effects of this resolution. But will England, or can she, 
manifest against us greater vigour and rage than she has 
already displayed 1 She deems resistance against oppression 
no less rebellion than independence itself. And where are 
those formidable troops that are to subdue the Americans ? 
What the English could not do, can- it be done by Germans 1 
Are they more brave or better disciplined 1 The number of 
our enemies is increased ; but our own is not diminished, and 
the battles we have sustained have given us the practice of 
arms and the experience of war. Who doubts, then, that 
a declaration of independence will procure us allies? All 
nations are desirous of procuring, by commerce, the produc- 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 291 

tions of our exuberant soil ; they will visit our ports, hitherto 
closed by the monopoly of insatiable England. They are no 
less eager to contemplate the reduction of her hated power ; 
they all loathe her barbarous dominion ; their succours will 
evince to our brave countrymen the gratitude they bear them 
for having been the first to shake the foundations of this Co- 
lossus. Foreign princes wait only for the extinction of all 
hazard of reconciliation, to throw off their present reserve. 
If this measure is useful, it is no less becoming our dignity. 
America has arrived at a degree of power which assigns her 
a place among independent nations ; we are not less entitled 
to it than the English themselves. If they have wealth, so 
also have we ; if they are brave, so are we ; if they are nu- 
merous, our population, through the incredible fruitfulness of 
our chaste wives, will soon equal theirs ; if they have men 
of renown as well in peace as in war, we likewise have such ; 
political revolutions usually produce great, brave, and gene- 
rous spirits. From what we have already achieved in these 
painful beginnings, it is easy to presume what we shall here- 
after accomplish ; for experience is the source of sage coun- 
sels, and liberty is the mother of great men. Have you not 
seen the enemy driven from Lexington by thirty thousand 
citizens armed and assembled in one day? Already their 
most celebrated generals have yielded in Boston to the skill 
of ours ; already their seamen, repulsed from our coasts, 
wander over the ocean, where they are the sport of tempest, 
and the prey of famine. Let us hail the favourable omen, 
and fight not for the sake of knowing on what terms we are 
to be the slaves of England, but to secure to ourselves a free 
existence, to found a just and independent government. Ani- 
mated by liberty, the Greeks repulsed the innumerable army 
of Persians ; sustained by the love of independence, the Swiss 
and the Dutch humbled the power of Austria by memorable 
defeats, and conquered a rank among nations. But the sun 
of America also shines upon the heads of the brave ; the point 
of our weapons is no less formidable than theirs ; here also 
the same union prevails, the same contempt of dangers and 
of death in asserting the cause of country. 



292 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



" Why then do we longer delay ; why still deliberate 1 Let 
this most happy day give birth to the American republic. 
Let her arise, not to devastate and conquer, but to re-establish 
the reign of peace and of the laws. The eyes of Europe are 
fixed upon us ; she demands of us a living example of freedom, 
that may contrast, by the felicity of the citizens, with the 
ever-increasing tyranny which desolates her polluted shores. 
She invites us to prepare an asylum where the unhappy may 
find solace, and the persecuted repose. She intreats us to 
cultivate a propitious soil, where that generous plant, which 
first sprung up and grew in England, but is now withered by 
the poisonous blasts of Scottish tyranny, may revive and 
flourish, sheltering under its salubrious and interminable 
shade, all the unfortunate of the human race. This is the 
end presaged by so many omens ; by our first victories ; by 
the present ardour and union ; by the flight of Howe, and the 
pestilence which broke out among Dunmore's people ; by the 
very winds which baffled the enemy's fleets and transports, 
and that terrible tempest which engulfed 700 vessels upon 
the coasts of Newfoundland. If we are not, this day, 
wanting in our duty to our country, the names of the Ameri- 
can legislators will be placed, by posterity, at the side of those 
of Theseus, of Lycurgus, of Romulus, of Numa, of the three 
Williams of Nassau, and of all those whose memory has been, 
and will be, forever dear to virtuous men and good citizens." 

Owing to the absence of the deputies of Pennsylvania and 
Maryland, as well as to the desire of manifesting a maturity 
of their deliberations, the farther consideration of the subject 
was postponed until the 1st of July. 

This was a period of intense feeling and anxiety. The 
fearful uncertainty of the fate that awaited them, rendered 
the situation of the people peculiarly painful. The minds of 
many moved like a pendulum between hope and fear ; seeking 
anxiously for the happy medium between monarchy and 
anarchy — the Sylla and Charybdis between which they were, 
or thought they were, sailing. 

On the 1st of July, the subject was resumed, and the des- 
tiny of the nation carefully weighed in the minds of the im- 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 293 

mortal sages of Congress ; and on the fourth of July, the report 
of the committee, consisting of Thomas Jefferson, Johi* Adams, 
Benjamin Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Philip Livingston, 
was adopted, dissolving the allegiance of the colonies to the 
British crown, and declaring themyree and independent, under 
the name of the Thirteen United States of America. 

The declaration of independence is attributed to Thomas 
Jefferson. Congress caused it to be published to the world 
in justification of their resolution to form an independent 
government. 

This able manifesto, which appeals to the common sense, 
and thrills the souls of men who feel for the welfare of their 
race — which always has, and always will receive the highest 
encomiums from all who know their rights and the rights of 
mankind, we shall give entire. 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4tH, 1776. 

When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary 
for one people to dissolve the political bands which have con- 
nected them with another, and to assume, among the powers 
of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws 
of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect 
to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare 
the causes which impel them to the separation. 

We hold these truths to be self-evident : — that all men are 
created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with 
certain unalienable rights ; that among these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness. That, to secure these rights, 
governments are instituted among men, deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed ; that whenever any 
form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
the right of the people to alter or abolish it ; and to institute 
new governments, laying its foundation on such principles, 
and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem 
most likely to effect their safety and happiness. 

Prudence, indeed, will dictate, that governments longestab- 



294 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



lished should not be changed for light and transient causes ; 
and acc(^dingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are 
more disposed to suffer while evils are sufferable, than to 
right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are 
accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpa- 
tions, pursuing invariably the same object, evinces a design 
to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it 
is their duty, to throw off" such government, and to provide 
new guards for their future security. 

Such has been the patient sufferance of these colonies ; and 
such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their 
former system of government. The history of the present 
King of Great Britain, is a history of repeated injuries and 
usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of 
an absolute tyranny over these States. To prove this, let 
facts be submitted to a candid world : 

He has refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and 
necessary for the public good. He has forbidden his gover- 
nors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, un- 
less suspended in their operation, till his assent should be 
obtained ; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected 
to attend to them. 

He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation 
of large districts of people, unless those people would relin- 
quish the right of representation in the legislature : a right 
inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. 

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, 
uncomfortable, and distant from the repository of their public 
records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compli- 
ance with his measures. He has dissolved representative 
houses repeatedly, for opposing, with manly firmness, his 
invasions on the rights of the people. 

He has refused, for a long time after such dissolutions, to 
cause others to be elected ; whereby the legislative powers, 
incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at 
large, for their exercise, the State remaining, in the mean- 
time, exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, 
and convulsions within. 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 295 



He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these 
states ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturaliza- 
tion of foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encourage their 
migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appro- 
priations of lands. He has obstructed the administration of 
justice, by refusing his assent to laws for establishing judi- 
ciary powers. 

He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the 
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their 
salaries. He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent 
hither swarms of officers, to harass our people, and eat out 
their substance. He has kept among us, in times of peace, 
standing armies, without the consent of our legislatures. He 
has affected to render the military independent of, and supe- 
rior to, the civil power. 

He has combined with others to subject us to jurisdiction 
foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws, 
giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation : For 
quartering large bodies of armed troops among us : For pro- 
tecting them, by a mock trial, from punishment for any mur- 
ders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these 
states : For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world : 
For imposing taxes on us without our consent : 

For depriving us, in many cases, of the benefits of trial by 
jury : For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pre- 
tended offences : For abolishing the free system of English 
laws in a neighbouring province, establishing therein an arbi- 
trary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to ren- 
der it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing 
the same absolute rule into these colonies : For taking away 
our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering, 
fundamentally, the forms of our governments : For suspend- 
ing our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested 
with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of 
his protection, and waging war against us. He has plun- 
dered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and de- 
stroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time transport- 



296 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



ing large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works 
of death, desolation, and tyranny, already begun with cir- 
cumstances of cruelty and perfidy, scarcely paralleled in the 
most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civil- 
ized nation. 

He has constrained our fellow-citizens, taken captive on 
the high seas, to bear arms against their country, to become 
the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall them- 
selves by their hands. He has excited domestic insurrec- 
tions amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the in- 
habitants of our frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose 
known rule of warfare is an undistinguished destruction of all 
ages, sexes, and conditions. 

In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for 
redress in the most humble terms ; our repeated petitions 
have been answered only by repeated injury. A prince, 
whose character is thus marked by every act which may 
define a tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. 

Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British 
brethren. We have warned them from time to time, of at- 
tempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdic- 
tion over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances 
of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed 
to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have con- 
jured them by the ties of our common kindred, to disavow 
these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our con- 
nexions and correspondence. They too have been deaf to 
the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, there- 
fore, acquiesce in the necessity which denounces our separa- 
tion, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies 
in war, in peace friends. 

We, therefore, the representatives of the United States of 
America, in general congress assembled, appealing to the 
Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our inten- 
tions, do, in the name and by the authority of the good peo- 
ple of these colonies, solemnly publish and declare, that these 
united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and inde- 
pendent states ; that they are absolved from all allegiance to 



1 ■ ' — ■ — 1 1 

1776.] REVOLUTION. 297 j 


the British crown, and that ; 


ill political connexion between 


them and the state of Great Britain, is, and ought to be, to- 


tally dissolved ; and that, as free and independent states, 
they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract 
alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and 


things which independent states may of right do. And for 
the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the 


protection of Divine Providei 


ice, we mutually pledge to each 


other our lives, our fortunes. 


and our sacred honour. 


John Hancock, President, from Massachusetts. 


New Hampshire. 


James Wilson, 


Josiah Bartlett, 


George Ross. 


William Whipple, 


Maryland. 


Matthew Thornton. 


Samuel Chase, 


Massachusetts. 


William Paca, 


Samuel Adams, 


Thomas Stone, 


John Adams, 


Charles Carroll of Carrollton. 


Robert Treat Paine, 


Virginia. 


Eldridge Gerry. 
Rhode Island. 


George Wythe, 
Richard Henry Lee, 


Stephen Hopkins, 
William Ellery. 
Connecticut. 


Thomas Jefferson, 
Benjamin Harrison, 
Thomas Nelson, jr.. 


Roger Sherman, 


Francis Lightfoot Lee, 


Samuel Huntington, 


Carter Braxton. 


William Williams, 


New York. 


Oliver Wolcott. 


William Floyd, 


Delaware. 
Caesar Rodney, 
George Read. 
Pennsylvania. 


Philip Livingston, 
Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. 

New Jersey. 


Robert Morris, 


Richard Stockton, 


Benjamin Rush, 
Benjamin Franklin, 
John Morton, 


John Witherspoon, 
Francis Hopkinson, 
John Hart, 


George Clymer, 
James Smith, 


Abraham Clark. 

North Carolina. 


George Taylor, 


William Hooper, 



38 



298 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



Joseph Hewes, South Carolina. 

John Penn. Edward Rutledge, 

Georgia. Thomas Haywood, Jr., 

Button Gwinnett, Thomas Lynch, Jr., 

Lyman Hall, Arthur Middleton. 

George Walton. 
The joy of the people on receiving this declaration exceeded 
all bounds. 

In Philadelphia, the artillery was fired, bonfires were kindled, 
and all kinds of public rejoicings took place. In New York, 
the statue of George III. was taken down, and after dragging 
it through the streets, the sons of liberty decided that the 
lead of which it was composed should be converted into 
musket-balls. 

In Boston, the garrison was drawn up in order of battle in 
King street, (which from that time took the name of State 
street,) and thirteen salutes were fired by thirteen detach- 
ments, into which the troops were divided ; the bells were 
rung ; the ensigns of royalty — lions, sceptres, and crowns — 
were torn to pieces and committed to the flames. 

In Virginia, it was decreed by the convention that the 
king's name should be suppressed in all the public prayers ; 
and it was ordained that the seal of the commonwealth of 
Virginia should represent Virtue as the tutelary genius of the 
province, robed in the drapery of an Amazon ; resting one 
hand upon her lance, and holding with the other a sword ; 
trampling upon tyranny, under the figure of a prostrate man ; 
having near him a crown fallen from his head, and bearing in 
one hand a broken chain, and in the other a scourge. At foot 
was charactered the word Virginia ; and round the eflfilgy of 
Virtue was inscribed. Sic semper tyrannis. The reverse re- 
presented a group of figures ; in the middle stood Liberty 
with her wand and cap ; on one side was Ceres, with the 
horn of plenty in the right hand, and a sheaf of wheat in the 
left ; upon the other appeared Eternity, with the globe and 
the phoenix. At foot were found these words — Deus nobis Jicec 
otia fecit. 

There was now no longer any diflference of opinion as to 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 299 



the character of the opposition to the British government. 
The people could now meet on one common ground. The 
spirit of freedom had at first flowed gently as rivulets ; but, 
gradually gaining strength from various sources, they swelled 
into impetuous rivers, which now overwhelmed every thing 
that the British could employ to arrest them. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Howe returns to New York — Lands on Staten Island — Preparations of Wash- 
ington — Howe's Proclamations — Congress publishes Howe's Commission — Howe 
writes to Washington — His spirited Reply — Howe's Letter to Dr. Franklin — 
British land on Long Island — Battle of Long Island — Retreat to New York — 
Washington proposes the formation of a regular Army — Howe again attempts to 
treat with the Republicans — Americans abandon New York — Enemy land on 
New York Island— Great Fire at New York — Washington retreats to Harlem- 
King's Bridge — White Plains — North Castle — Reduction of Fort Washington- 
Retreat from Fort Lee — Washington retreats through New Jersey — Crosses the 
Delaware — Cruel Treatment of American Prisoners. 

" Now, from the grey mist of the ocean, the white sailed ships of the 
enemy appear. High is the grove of their masts, as they nod, by turns, on 
the rolling wave." 

" Eternal spirit of the chainless mind ! 

Brightest in dungeons. Liberty, thou art. 

For there thy habitation is the heart — 
The heart which love of thee alone can bind : 
And when thy sons to fetters are consign'd — 

To fetters, and the damp vault's dayless gloom, 

Their country conquers with their martyrdom. 
And Freedom's fame finds wing on every wind." 

Before we proceed, it may be proper to remind the reader 
that the unsuccessful attempt of the enemy to take Charleston 
was a part of that grand and favourite campaign of the 
British ministers to crush the colonists at one fell swoop, of 
which we spoke in a cursory manner in the last chapter. We 
shall now attempt to describe another part of the same plan. 

The army of General Howe, having now sufficiently reco- 
vered from " the stings and arrows of outrageous fortune," 
which they had suffered at Boston, departed from Halifax on 
the 11th of June, and proceeded to Sandy Hook, to await 



300 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776' 



reinforcements from Europe, under his brother Admiral 
Howe. • General Howe took possession of Staten Island on 
the 2d of July, and quartered his troops about the villages. 
Here his brother, after touching at Halifax, where he found 
despatches urging him to come to New York, arrived on the 
12th of July. About the same time General Clinton arrived 
with his troops, from the terrible defeat at fort Moultrie. 
The Hessians and Waldeckers, employed as mercenaries by 
the British government, also arrived, when the army, now 
preparing to take New York, amounted to about 35,000 of 
the very best troops of Europe. 

Washington, anticipating that the possession of New York 
would be a favourite object of the enemy, had removed with 
the principal part of his troops to that city soon after the 
British evacuated Boston ; and, having now obtained un- 
doubted information that the great armament already men- 
tioned was to be directed against New York, he threw up 
strong entrenchments, both there and on Long Island, to op- 
pose the enemy's fleet up the North and East rivers. The 
American army amounted to 27,000 men, but many were 
invalids and others destitute of arms. 

The corps stationed at Long Island was commanded by 
JMajor-General Green, but, on account of sickness, he was 
succeeded by General Sullivan. Putnam, with a great part 
of the army, was encamped at Brooklyn, on another part of 
the same island, forming a kind of peninsula, or almost an 
island within an island. Excuse the blunder, it conveys the 
idea, the legitimate object of language. The neck of this 
peninsula Putnam defended with moats and entrenchments. 
His wings extended from Wallabout Bay to near Gowan's 
Cove. Look at a large map, reader, if you please, and enjoy 
the splendid plan of Washington to defend your rights. In 
the rear of Putnam's corps you see Governor's Island and the 
East river, which gave him a direct communication with 
New York, where a part of the army was stationed under 
Washington himself In front of his entrenchments are the 
heights of Guan, a chain of hills covered with woods, and 
running from west to east, dividing the island into two parts. 



1776.] 



REVOLUTION. 



301 



Here the corps of Sullivan, already spoken of, was stationed. 
The militia of the province, under the American general Clin- 
ton, occupied East Chester, West Chester, and Rochelle. 

The two rampant armies thus situated, the one ready for 
the attack, the other for the defence. Admiral and General 
Howe announced to the colonists that they were authorized 
to settle all difficulties — to grant general or particular par- 
dons to those who would return to their duty, and to pro- 
claim any province or city to be in the king's peace, which 
would remove the effect of the law against rebellion. 

" Rebellion ! foul, dishonour'd word, 

Whose wrongful blight so oft has stain'd 
The holiest cause that tongue or sword 

Of mortal ever lost or gain'd. 
How many a spirit, born to bless, 

Has sunk beneatli that withering name, 
Whom but a day's, an hour's success, 

Had wafted to eternal fame ! 
As exhalations, when they burst 
From the warm earth, if chill'd at first, 
If check'd in soaring from the plain, 
Darken to fogs and sink again ; 
But, if they once triumphant spread 
Their wings above the mountain-head, 
Become enthroned in upper air, 
And turn to sunbright glories there !" 

In addition to the promise of pardon, the commissioners 
offered a bribe (for such it really was) to those who should 
assist in re-establishing the royal authority. These writings 
were circulated through the country ; and Washington sent 
to Congress, by express, a proclamation they addressed to 
Amboy. 

Congress, satisfied that the commission of the Howes, sanc- 
tioned by Parliament, extended little farther than " to grant 
pardons to such as deserve mercy," they resolved to publish 
it in the papers, that the people might not be disarmed by the 
wiles of the enemy. 

A letter, addressed to George Washington, Esq., was 

brought from Admiral Lord Howe. The general refused to 

receive it, stating that he would not hold any communication 

_ 



302 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 

with the commanders of the king as a private individual. 
The commissioners then addressed the letter To George Wash- 
ington, SfC. SfC, and Adjutant-General Patterson was sent 
with this despatch. Patterson, in conversation, gave Wash- 
ington the \\i\eoi Excellency. He apologized for the manner 
in which the letter was directed, assuring him of the high 
regard the commissioners entertained of his personal charac- 
ter, and that the et ceteras were in use between ambassadors 
disagreeing on points of etiquette. Washington told him that 
a letter written to a person invested with a public character, 
should specify it, otherwise it could not be distinguished from 
a private letter ; that it was true the et ceteras implied every- 
thing ; but it was no less true that they implied anything ; 
and that, as to himself, he would never consent to receive any 
letter, relating to public affairs, that should be directed to 
him, without a designation of his rank and office. Patterson 
then began to talk of the clemency and goodness of the king 
in choosing as negotiator Lord and General Howe ! Such 
arguments, addressed to such a man as Washington, are 
really funny. The goodness of tyranny, preached to the very 
personification of wisdom and patriotism, might have extorted 
a broad grin from Heraclitus himself. 

Washington told him he was not authorized to negotiate ; 
but that it did not appear that the powers of the commissioners 
consisted in any more than in granting pardons ; that Ame- 
rica, not having committed any offence, asked for no forgive- 
ness, and was only defending her unquestionable rights. 
This closed the conference and Patterson withdrew. Congress 
highly approved of Washington's dignified conduct, and 
decreed, that in future none of their officers should receive 
letters or messages, on the part of the enemy, that were not 
addressed to them according to their respective rank. 

Dr. Benjamin Franklin, who had returned from England, 
was now a leading member of Congress. To him Lord Howe 
addressed a letter soon after his arri\ al, informing him of the 
nature of his commission, to establish peace ; and requested 
his aid to accomplish this desired end. Franklin answered, 
that, preparatory to any propositions of amity or peace, it 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 303 



would be required that Great Britain should acknowledge, the 
independence of America ; defray the expenses of the war ; and 
indemnify the colonies for burning their towns. This, he said, 
he gave as his own opinion, and that what he had said was 
not autliorized by those whom the Americans had invested 
with the power of peace or war. 

Lord Howe and his brother, fully convinced that dunces 
and cowards were not very numerous in America, resolved 
upon immediate hostilities. 

On the 22d of August, the fleet approached the west coast 
of Long Island, and the troops debarked, under cover of the 
ships, between the villages of Gravcsend and Utrecht, near 
the narrows which separate this island from Staten Island. 

Perceiving that battle was approaching, Washington issued 
the following orders : 

" The enemy having now landed upon Long Island, the hour 
is fast approaching in which the honour and success of this 
army and the safety of our bleeding country depend. Re- 
member, officers and soldiers, that you are freemen fighting 
for the blessing of liberty ; that slavery will be your portion, 
and that of your posterity, if you do not acquit yourselves 
like men. Remember how your courage has been despised 
and traduced by your cruel invaders ; though they have found 
by dear experience at Boston, Charlestown, and other places, 
what a few brave men can do in their own land, and in the 
best of causes, against hirelings and mercenaries. Be cool, 
be determined. Do not fire at a distance, but wait for orders 
from your officers." 

Upon the landing of the British under Lieutenant-General 
Clinton near Utrecht and Gravesend, a regiment of Pennsyl- 
vanians, under Colonel Hand, retired from the coast to the 
woody heights, to assist in guarding a pass, leading through 
Flatbush to the American camp at Brooklyn. Lord Corn- 
wallis was detached to seize this pass if not occupied, but not 
to risk an engagement if guarded by the Americans. The 
place being guarded, Cornwallis took post in the village. The 
British army now extended from the landing at the Narrows, 
through Utrecht and Gravesend to the village of Flatland, 



304 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 

another point far to their right, where the heights are practi- 
cable by a circuitous route to Brooklyn. 

De Heister landed on the 25th of July, with two brigades 
of Hessians, and took post the next day at Flatbush, when, in 
the evening. Lord Cornvvallis with the British proceeded to 
Flatland. Major-General Grant commanded the left wing, 
which extended to the coast, near which there is another 
route to Brooklyn. 

Upon the top of the heights, a road follows the length of 
the range, leading from Bedford to Jamaica, and is intersected 
by the two roads already described. The posts upon this road 
were very frequent, and prompt intelligence could be trans- 
mitted from one to the other, of the movements of the enemy 
on the three routes. 

The centre of the enemy at Flatbush, was only about four 
miles distant from the lines at Brooklyn, and their right and 
left wings about five or six miles from them. 

On the 26th, Washington passed the day at Brooklyn, 
making arrangements for the approaching action, and renew- 
ing his efforts to infuse his own spirit into the minds of others. 
At nisht he returned to New York. 

The plan of the enemy was, to seize the point of intersec- 
tion of the road leading from Flatland, with that of Jamaica ; 
and then, rapidly descending into the plain, to fall upon the 
flank and rear of the Americans. Colonel Miles, who was 
stationed near Flatbush, was also to guard the road of Flat- 
land, and to scour it continually with his scouts, as well as 
that of Jamaica. 

On the evening of the 26th, about nine o'clock, General 
Clinton, commanding the van-guard, consisting of light in- 
fantry ; Lord Percy the grenadiers, artillery, and cavalry in 
the centre ; and Lord Cornwallis the rear, followed by some 
regiments of infantry, of heavy artillery, and the baggage ; 
withdrew silently from Flatland across the country, through 
a part which is called New Lotts, and about two hours before 
daybreak arrived undiscovered within half a mile of the Ja- 
maica road. Here his patrols captured, without giving alarm, 
one of the American parties, stationed on the road to give 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 305 

notice of the enemy's approach. Finding the pass unoccu- 
pied, General Clinton immediately took possession of it ; and 
as soon as day appeared, he bore to his left towards Bedford. 
Lord Percy coming up with his corps, the entire column de- 
scended from the heights, by the village of Bedford, into the 
level country between the heights and Brooklyn ! This move- 
ment decided the fortunes of the day. 

While Clinton was executing this stratagem on the left of 
the Americans, General Grant advanced along the coast to 
divert their attention : and General Heister, with the same 
object in view, attacked the centre at break of day. General 
Grant had put himself in motion about midnight, and had 
attacked the militia of New York and Pennsylvania, who 
guarded the route along the coast. At first the Americans 
gave way, but General Parsons arriving, he took up a posi- 
tion on an eminence, and renewing the combat, he maintained 
it until Brigadier-General Lord Sterling came to his aid with 
1500 men. The engagement now became very animated, but 
not decisive. The attack made upon the centre by the 
Hessians, was valiantly sustained by the Americans, com- 
manded by General Sullivan in person. At the same time 
the enemy's ships opened a cannonade against a battery on 
the little island of Red Ilook, on the right flank of the Ame- 
ricans who opposed General Grant. 

While the Americans were thus gallantly defending two 
passes, they were still unacquainted with the real design of 
the enemy, and the great danger that threatened their de- 
struction from another quarter. General Clinton, after 
detaching a strong corps to intercept their retreat, fell upon 
the left flank of the troops under Sullivan, engaged with the 
Hessians. 

Apprized of their danger by the appearance of the Eng- 
lish light infantry, they sounded the retreat and retired in 
good order towards the camp, not even leaving their artillery. 
But, as they were retiring from the woods by regiments, they 
encountered the British troops which had occupied the 
ground on their rear, and who now made a furious attack 
upon them. They fled to the woods, where tthey again en^ 

39 2a* "^^^ 



306 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



countered the Hessians. Thus attacked in front and rear — 
driven by the British to the Hessians, and from the Hessians 
to the British, with great loss, some of them at last became 
desperate, and with heroic valour fought their way through 
the enemy and gained the camp, while others escaped through 
the woods. Generals Sullivan and Woodhull were taken 
prisoners. 

The firing towards Brooklyn apprized Lord Sterling of the 
fact that the enemy had gained their rear; and aware that 
his only prospect of escape was a precipitate retreat across 
a creek in his rear, near the Yellow Mills, not far from Gow- 
an's Cove, orders were given accordingly; and, to favour its 
success, he attacked Cornwallis, stationed at a house just 
above the place where he intended to cross the creek. A 
spirited attack was made, and Cornwallis was on the point 
of being dislodged from his post by a small number of Ame- 
ricans ; but the British forces increasing in front, and General 
Grant advancing on the rear, these brave men were all either 
killed, or, with their general, taken prisoners. This engage- 
ment, however, gave a large part of the detachment an op- 
portunity to escape to the camp by crossing the creek. 

The loss of the Americans in killed, wounded and prison- 
ers, in this unfortunate engagement, is variously estimated, 
at from one to three thousand ; and that of the British at 
about four hundred. 

It would be vain to hide the truth : an egregious error was 
obviously committed in not properly guarding the pass from 
Flatland to the Jamaica road, and from this cross-road to 
Bedford, and depending too much upon scouts, liable to be 
secured without being able to give the alarm. Colonel Miles 
has been censured by some historians, but his station near 
Flatbush, with the Hessians in front, was certainly not a 
favourable one to watch the movements of the enemy at 
Flatland. We do not pretend to decide who was in fault, 
but it is certain that General Woodhull, who had been or- 
dered by the Convention of New-York to take post on the 
high grounds, was still at Jamaica when the enemy took pos- 
session of the road between that place and the American j 



1776.J REvoLrxioN. 307 



army. The American officers, it is very manifest, were also 
deceived by the feints already described, and by the proba- 
bility that the British would direct their principal force 
against the pass along the coast, which was the direct route 
to Brooklyn. 

In the heat of the action. General Washington passed over 
to the camp at Brooklyn, from New-York, where he saw 
with the deepest anguish the destruction in which some of 
his best troops were involved, without the possibility of ex- 
tricating them. If he had attempted it with the troops at 
Brooklyn, the camp would probably have been lost, owing to 
the superiority of the enemy ; and to bring over the troops 
from New York, his forces would still have been inferior to 
those of the enemy, and the fate of his country would proba- 
bly have depended upon a single battle, under very unfa- 
vourable circumstances. 

The enemy encamped in front of the American lines ; and 
on the night of the 28th broke ground in form within six 
hundred paces of a bastion on the left. The English works 
were pushed with great ardour, and their formidable artillery 
rendered the destruction of the American woi-ks certain if 
they remained. The Americans, greatly inferior in numbers, 
discouraged by defeat, overwhelmed with fatigue, exposed to 
torrents of rain, which also injured their arms and ammuni- 
tion, could not be expected to make a very vigorous defence. 
Independent of the danger to be apprehended from the enemy 
on the island, if the wind should become favourable they 
might force a passage up the East river and cut off the 
retreat. 

A council of war being assembled, it was resolved to eva- 
cuate Long Island and withdraw to New York. 

The following account of this retreat is given by Good- 
rich : " Seldom, if ever, was a retreat conducted with more 
ability and prudence, or under more favourable auspices, 
than that of the American troops from Long Island. The 
necessary preparations having been made, on the 29th of Au- 
gust, at eight in the evening, the troops began to move in the 
greatest silence. But they were not on board their vessels 



308 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776- 



before eleven. A violent north-east wind and the ebb tide, 
which rendered the current very rapid, prevented the pass- 
age. The time pressed, however. Fortunately, the wind 
suddenly veered to the north-west ; they immediately made 
sail, and landed in New York. Providence appeared to have 
watched over the Americans. About two o'clock in the 
morning, a thick fog, and at this season of the year extraor- 
dinary, covered all Long Island, whereas the air was per- 
fectly clear on the side of New York. Notwithstanding the 
entreaties of his officers, Washington remained the last upon 
the shore. It was not till the next morning, when the sun 
was already high and the fog dispelled, that the EnglWi per- 
ceived the Americans had abandoned their camp, and were 
sheltered from pursuit." 

' " Whoever will attend to all the details of this retreat," 
says Botta, " will easily believe that no military operation 
was ever conducted by great captains with more ability and 
prudence, or under more favourable auspices." 

Even the enemy speak of this retreat in praises. Hear 
him : " At first the wind and the tide were both unfavourable 
to the Americans ; nor was it thought possible that they could 
have effected their retreat on the evening of the 29th, until, 
about eleven o'clock, the wind shifting, and the sea becoming 
more calm, the boats w^ere enabled to pass. Another remark- 
able circumstance was, that on Long Island hung a thick 
fog, which prevented the British troops from discovering the 
operations of the enemy ; while on the side of New York the 
atmosphere was perfectly clear. The retreat was effected 
in thirteen hours, though 9000 men had to pass over the 
river, besides field-artillery, ammunition, provisions, cattle, 
horses, and carts. 

" The circumstances of this retreat were particularly glo- 
rious to the Americans. They had been driven to the cor- 
ner of an island, where they were hemmed in within the 
narrow space of two square miles. In their front was an 
encampment of near twenty thousand men ; in their rear, an 
arm of the sea, a mile wide, which they could not cross but 
by several embarkations. JVotwith standing these difficulties, 



1770.] REVOLUTION. 309 

they secured a I'etreat without the loss of a man. The pickets 
of the English army arrived only in time to fire upon their 
rear-guard, already too far removed from the shore to receive 
any damage." 

The garrison of Governor's Island being in danger of fall- 
ing into the hands of the enemy, withdrew, with all their 
artillery and munitions, without accident, almost in the 
presence of the English ships, and joined the army at New 
York. 

Alarmed and discouraged, and believing that all was lost, 
some of the militia, who had been armed for an emergency, 
became more and more intractable, and began to leave the 
army in hundreds, soniQ in whole regiments, and returned 
home. This produced a very injurious effect on the regular 
troops, whose engagement was but for a year, and some only 
for a few weeks. Filled with the thoughts of soon returning 
home, they were unwilling to expose themselves to great 
dangers; and, had not Washington possessed extraordinary 
influence, the army would have been dispersed. 

Washington, seconded by the other chief officers, urged 
upon Congress the indispensable necessity of forming a 
regular army, in which the soldiers should be enlisted to 
serve during the continuance of the war. Congress decreed 
that it should be formed; and that it should be composed of 
eighty-eight battalions, to be raised in all the provinces, ac- 
cording to their respective abilities. Congress also decreed 
that a bounty of twenty dollars should be given to each man 
at the time of engagement, and portions of unoccupied lands 
were also promised to the officers and soldiers. But from the 
difficulty of finding men to enlist during the whole period of 
the war, the resolution was modified to allow them to enj;ao-e 
for three years, or during the continuance of the war. 

General Howe, believing that the terror his success had 
inspired would induce the Americans to resume the British 
yoke, sent General Sullivan, whom he had made prisoner 
on Long Island, to C-ongress with a message, that although he 
could not consistently treat with that assembly in the cha- 
racter they had assumed, yet he would gladly confer with 



310 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



some of their members in their private capacity, and would 
meet them at any place they would appoint. He again spoke 
of his ample powers to terminate the contest upon conditions 
advantageous to both Great Britain and America. 

Apprehensive that such a proposition, if not attended to, 
might mislead the people. Congress appointed deputies to 
hear them. The deputies consisted of Benjamin Franklin, 
John Adams, and Edward Rutledge, all zealous advocates of 
independence. 

On the lllh of September, they met the commissioners on 
Staten Island, opposite Amboy. Admiral Howe said that 
though he could not treat with them as a committee of Con- 
gress, yet he was authorized to confer with any gentlemen of 
influence in the colonies, on the means of restoring peace ; 
and that he felt a real gratification, on the present occasion, to 
discourse with them upon this important subject. 

The deputies replied that since they were come to hear 
him, he was at liberty to look upon them in what light he 
pleased ; that they could not, however, consider themselves 
in any other character than that in which Congress had placed 
them. Howe then proceeded to business : he demanded that 
the colonies should return to their allegiance and duty to- 
wards the British crown; he assured them of the earnest 
desire of the king to make his government easy and accept- 
able to them in every respect ; that those acts of Parliament 
which were so obnoxious to them, would undergo a revisal, 
and the instructions to governors would be recoiisidered ; that 
if any just causes of complaint were found in the acts or in- 
structions, they might be removed ! 

The deputies now recounted the tyrannical acts of Parlia- 
ment, and the many ineflfectual attempts by petitions and 
supplications to procure their repeal ; and that a return to 
the domination of Great Britain was not now to be expected. 
There was no doubt, they said, that the Americans were 
inclined to peace, and willing to enter into any treaty with 
Britain that might be advantageous to both countries. If 
there was the same good disposition on her part, it would be 
easier for the commissioners, though not empowered at pre- 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 3^1 



sent to treat with them as independent states, to obtain fresh 
powers from their government for that purpose, than it would 
be for the Congress to procure them from the colonies to con- 
sent to submission. This ended the conference ; and Howe 
expressed a regret that there was no longer any hope of an 
accommodation. 

The deputies reported to Congress, and their conduct was 
approved. 

The British ships cruised along the coast, sometimes threat- 
ening one place, and sometimes another. A part of the fleet 
doubled Long Island, and appeared in the sound which com- 
municates with the East river by a narrow channel called 
Hell Gate. 

The main body of the British fleet was moved near Gov- 
ernor's Island, ready to attack the city, or enter either the 
East or the Hudson river. Some of the ships were continually 
engaged with the batteries along the shore, and on the little 
islands in the East river. 

Washington had 4500 men in New York ; 6500 at Harlem, 
a village at the opening of the sound ; and 12,000 at Kings- 
bridge, at the end of the island of New York, which he had 
strongly fortified, to secure a communication with the main 
land, and prevent the enemy from taking it by surprise, and 
cut off" his retreat from the island. But as the enemy had 
command of the sound, it was feared that they would land 
under the protection of their ships, in the centre of the 
island, near the mouth of the sound, and intercept the retreat 
of all the troops in the city and its environs. A council of 
war was assembled, to deliberate upon the immediate evacua- 
tion of the city. The majority decided against the measure, 
but the English having reinforced themselves at the entrance 
of the sound, a second council of war decided on the neces- 
sity of abandoning the city. In a few days the garrison 
marched out, and formed a junction with the soldiers sta- 
tioned at Harlem, leaving the city in the power of the enemy. 

With a view to divert the attention of the American gene- 
rals, some of the enemy's ships had entered the Hudson, while 
General Clinton, who had entered the East river through 



312 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



Hell Gate, disembarked at Kipp's Bay, three miles north of 
New York, under the protection of their ships. Washington 
sent a reinforcement to this point ; but the militia fled on the 
approach of the enemy, and after the commander-in-chief had 
rallied them in person, they fled again. 

The British, after sending a strong detachment to take 
possession of New York, encamped in the centre of the island, 
extending the right wing to Horen's Hook, on the East 
river, and the left to Bloomingdale, on the Hudson. 

By referring to a map, the reader will observe the proxi- 
mity of the two armies. The position of the Americans, on 
the heights of Harlem, was only a mile and a half from the 
British outposts. This led to frequent skirmishes, which 
Washington encouraged, to revive the drooping courage of 
the soldiers. Some English and Hessians were one day led 
into an ambuscade by the Americans, and severely handled, 
for which he commended their valour in his official letters. 

A few days after the British took possession of New York, 
a tremendous fire broke out, and, excited by the wind, spread 
with fearful rapidity, and destroyed about one-fourth of the 
city. Some supposed it to have been the work of the Ame- 
ricans, while others attributed it to chance. Several Ameri- 
cans, suspected as the authors of the disaster, were seized by 
the enraged enemy, and precipitated into the fire. 

Strongly entrenched on the heights of Harlem, Washington 
could throw defiance into the very teeth of General Howe, 
who did not even attempt to dislodge him, but resolved to 
take up a position behind that of the Americans, at Kings- 
bridge. Leaving Lord Percy with several brigades of Eng- 
lish and Hessians in the camp of Harlem to protect New York, 
he embarked in flat-bottomed boats, passed through Hell Gate 
into the sound, and landed at Frog's Neck. In a few days, 
after the arrival of reinforcements from Staten Island, he 
proceeded towards Kingsbridge, over a rough and stony road, 
encountering many obstacles which the Americans had thrown 
in his way to impede his progress. In the meantime Wash- 
ington assembled his whole army at Kingsbridge, from which 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 313 



he now sent out his light infantry to scour the country and 
harass the enemy in his march. 

The British general, anxious to cut off the communication 
of the Americans with the eastern provinces, if he could not 
shut them up in New York island, determined to secure the 
posts of the Highlands, known by the name of White Plains, 
in the rear of Kingsbridge. The sagacity and vigilance of 
Washington enabled him to penetrate the design of the ene- 
my, and he withdrew the main army from Kingsbridge ; and 
extending his left wing, he took post on White Plains, while 
the right reached to Valentine's Hill, near Kingsbridge. By 
referring to a map, it will be seen that this line extends along 
the river Brunx, where the chief commander entrenched him- 
self with great care. The river was in front of the Ameri- 
cans, and the enemy marched up on the opposite shore. 

Just before the arrival of the British at White Plains, 
Washington withdrew his troops from the position on the 
Brunx and assembled them on the heights, near the plains, in 
front of the British. 

" In vain sage Washington, from hill to hill. 
Plays round his foes with more than Fabian skill, 
Retreats, advances, lures them to his snare, 
To balance numbers by the shifts of war." 

On the 28th of October, the British army appeared before 
the American camp. They attacked, and, after a desperate 
struggle, carried a position which Macdougall had been or- 
dered to take about a mile from the American camp, to pro- 
tect its right wing. Night approaching, the British general 
deferred operations till the next day. Washington took ad- 
vantage of the delay, strengthened his camp and posted his 
army in such a manner that its formidable appearance in- 
duced Howe to wait for reinforcements. The British having 
erected batteries, threatened to turn the right wing of the 
Americans and gain the height in the rear; Washington 
broke up his camp and removed to a country still more 
mountainous, near North Castle, on the 2d of November. 
The object of the enemy was to strike a decisive and fatal 

40 2^ 



314 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



blow, but the wisdom and skill of our commander prevented 
it and saved his country. 

Ho^ye, finding it exceedingly unprofitable to attempt to 
catch an old fox in the mountains, abandoned the pursuit and 
resolved upon the reduction of fort Washington, on the left 
bank of the Hudson, ten miles above New York ; and on the 
8th of November he drew off his army towards Kingsbridge, 
and on the 16th the English and Hessians invested the fort, 
and, after a severe contest, which lasted nearly all day, Col. 
Magaw, who commanded the fort, finding his ammunition 
nearly exhausted, was obliged to surrender. The garrison, 
consisting of 2600 men, became prisoners of war. The ene- 
my lost 800 men, and the Americans had only a few killed. 

Howe, having now entire possession of New York island, 
sent Cornwallis with 6000 men to invest fort Lee, on the 
opposite side of the river ; but General Greene drew off the 
garrison, abandoned the fort, and retired to the other side of 
the Hackensack. 

The loss of these forts enabled the enemy to penetrate into 
New Jersey, and to menace Philadelphia itself. Washington, 
having anticipated the fall of these fastnesses, had already 
crossed the Hudson and proceeded to join General Greene. 
General Lee, who had been left in charge of the post last 
occupied by the commander-in-chief, had orders to join the 
main army if the enemy should appear on the right bank of 
the Hudson, which they soon did in great numbers, inundat- 
ing the country, and spreading terror among the people. 
The American army retreated across the Passaic river to 
Newark. The militia having disbanded and gone home, 
Washington was almost abandoned by his army. Even the 
regular troops filed off and deserted in large parties, until 
the army amounted to less than three thousand. Enfeebled 
in numbers, discouraged by reverses, exposed in an open 
country to the inclemency of the season, without tents or 
entrenching tools, surrounded by loyalists, who endeavoured 
to spread terror through the country, to induce others to 
change sides and make peace with the enemy, and rapidly 
pursued by the British hosts, the American army was but a 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 315 

feeble support, indeed, to the infant republic, which was 
threatened with irretrievable ruin. Washington retreated 
from Newark to Brunswick, Princeton, and Trenton ; and on 
the 8th of December crossed to the Pennsylvania side of the 
Delaware, while Lord Cornwallis was close in his rear ; but 
finding no means to cross the river, he established his head- 
quarters at Trenton. 

Amid all these accumulated misfortunes, the hero of the 
republic, whose invincible soul could neither be vanquished 
nor shaken, trusting in Providence and the justice of his cause, 
showed himself to his soldiers with a cheerful countenance ; 
and the members of congress, resolved to stand or fall with 
the republic, and to aid their chief through good or adverse 
fortune, calmly drew up various articles of confederation and 
perpetual union between the states. Men who can rise supe- 
rior to such dangers and terrors as surround them, in an ap- 
parently hopeless cause, appear rather the instruments in the 
hands of God, to accomplish a mighty work, than the mere 
representatives of men. The condition of their minds, calm, 
collected and dignified, in their present deplorable situation, 
presents the most sublime picture of patriotism the world 
ever produced. 

The treatment of the prisoners at New York would have 
disgraced barbarians. The sick and the well were all thrown 
together ; exposed to hunger, cold, and impure air ; insulted 
by the soldiers and loyalists, hauled wounded and bleeding 
through the streets, without clothing, on carts, as a public 
spectacle, to be hissed by the populace as traitors and rebels. 
Exposed to all these outrages, more than 1500 of these un- 
fortunate men perished in a few weeks. 

" But of all tales that war's black annals hold. 
The darkest, foulest still remains untold ; 
New modes of torture wait the shameful strife. 
And Britain wantons in the waste of life. 

■ Cold-blooded Cruelty, first fiend of hell, 
Ah, tJiink no more with savage hordes to dwell ; 
Quit the Caribbean tribes who eat their slain. 
Fly that grim gang, the inquisitors of Spain, 



316 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



Boast not thy deeds in Moloch's shrines of old, 

Leave Barbary's pirates to their blood-bought gold, 

Let Holland steal her victims, force them o'er 

To toils and death on Java's morbid shore ; 

Some cloak, some colour all these crimes may plead ; 

'Tis avarice, passion, blind religion's deed ; 

But Britons here, in this fraternal broil. 

Grave, cool, deliberate in thy service toil. 

Far from the nation's eye, whose nobler soul 

Their wars would humanize, their pride control. 

They lose the lessons that her laws impart. 

And change the British for the brutal heart. 

Fired by no passion, madden'd by no zeal. 

No priest, no Plutus bids them not to feel ; 

Unpaid, gratuitous, on torture bent, 

Their sport is death, their pastime to torment ; 

All other gods they scorn, but bow the knee. 

And curb, well-pleased, O Cruelty, to thee. 

Come then, cursed goddess, where thy votaries reig-n, 
Inhale their incense from the land and main ; 
Come to New York, their conquering arms to greet, 
Brood o'er their camp and breathe along their fleet ; 
The brother chiefs of Howe's illustrious name 
Demand thy labours to complete their fame. 
What shrieks of agony thy praises sound ! 
What grateless dungeons groan beneath the ground ! 
See the black Prison Ship's expanding womb 
Impested thousands, quick and dead, entomb. 
Barks after barks the captured seamen bear, 
Transboard and lodge thy silent victims there ; 
A hundred scows, from all the neighbouring shore, 
Spread the dull sail and ply the constant oar. 
Waft wrecks of armies from the well-fought field. 
And famish'd garrisons who bravely yield ; 
They mount the hulk, and, cramm'd within the cave, 
Hail their last house, their living, floating grave. 

She comes, the fiend ! her grinning jaws expand, 
Her brazen eyes cast lightning o'er the strand, 
Her wings like thunder-clouds the welkin sweep, 
Brush the tall spires and shade the shuddering deep ; 
She gains the deck, displays her wonted store, 
Her cords and scourges wet with prisoners' gore ; 
Gripes, pincers, thumb-screws spread beneath her feet. 
Slow poisonous drugs and loads of putrid meat ; 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 317 



Disease hangs drizzling from her slimy locks, 
And hot contagion issues from her box. 

O'er the closed hatches ere she takes her place, 
She moves the massy planks a little space, 
Opes a small passage to the cries below, 
That feast her soul on messages of wo ; 
There sits with gaping ear and changeless eye, 
Drinks every groan and treasures every sigh ; 
Sustains the faint, their miseries to prolong. 
Revives the dying and unnerves the strong. 

But as the infected mass resign their breath. 
She keeps with joy the register of death. 
As, toss'd through portholes from the encumber' d cave. 
Corpse after corpse fall dashing in the wave ; 
Corpse after corpse, for days and months and years. 
The tide bears off, and still its current clears ; 
At last, o'erloaded with tlie putrid gore. 
The slime-clad waters thicken round the shore, 
Green ocean's self, that oft his wave renews, 
That drinks whole fleets with all their battling crews. 
That laves, that purifies the earth and sky. 
Yet ne'er before resigned his natural dye. 
Here purples, blushes for the race he bore 
To rob and ravage this unconquer'd shore , 
The scaly nations, as they travel by. 
Catch the contagion, sicken, gasp and die." 

We will here drop the curtain, to hide these tragic scenes 
of distress, observing, with Congress, a "day of solemn fasting 
and humiliation before God, and call upon the states to fur- 
nish militia; rightly believing that divine aid can only be 
expected by those who do their duty." 



Qb* 



318 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Pennsylvanians aroused to defend the Capital— Capture of General Lee — Great 
Powers of Washington — Re-crosses the Delaware — Assumes the Offensive-rSur- 
prises the Enemy at Trenton— Returns to Pennsylvania Side with the Prisoners, 
&c. — Hessians paraded through Philadelphia — Wtishington again crosses the Dela- 
ware— Wrenches New Jersey from the Enemy and astonishes the World— Alarm 
of the British Commander. 

" So flies a herd of beeves, that hear, dismay'd, 
The lions roaring through the midnight shade." 

In this unpromising situation of affairs, Generals Mifflin and 
Armstrong, possessing great influence in Pennsylvania, w^ent 
through the state addressing the people and arousing them to 
arms to defend the capital and the country. 

"Rise, ye men! if ye inherit 

From a line of noble sires 
Saxon blood and Saxon spirit, 

Rise to guard your household fires. 
From each rocky hill and valley 

Rise against the invading band ; 
In the name of Freedom, rally 

To defend your native land. 

" Foemen's feet your soil are pressing, 

Hostile barmers meet your eye ; 
Ask from Heaven a Father's blessing, 

Then for freedom dare to die. 
What though veteran foes assail you, 

Fill'd with confidence and pride ; 
Let not hope or courage fail you. 

Freedom's God is on your side. 

»* To the winds your flag unfolding, 

Rally round it in your might. 
Each his weapon firmly holding. 

Heaven will aid you in the fight. 
By the mothers that have borne you. 

By your wives and children dear, 
Lest your loved ones all should scorn you, 

Rise without a thought of fear. 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 319 



" Come as comes the tempest rushing, 

Bending forests in its path, 
As the mountain torrent gushing, 

As the billows in their wrath : 
From each rocky hill and valley 

Sweep away the invading band ; 
In the name of Freedom, rally 

To defend your native land." 

The tardy movements of General Lee to join Wasliington 
according to orders, plainly indicated that he either preferred 
the command of a separate army, or considered it advisable 
to remain in the mountainous parts of New Jersey to be ready 
to fall on the right flank of the British army. On the 6th of 
December he crossed the North River at King's Ferry, with 
3000 men and some pieces of cannon. 

On the 13th, being at a place called Baskinbridge, about 
twenty miles from the quarters of the enemy, he incautiously 
separated himself from his army to reconnoitre. He took up 
his quarters at a house three miles distant from the main 
body, attended by a slender guard, where he was taken 
prisoner. 

" General Lee wasted the morning in altercation with cer- 
tain militia corps who were of his command, particularly 
the Connecticut light horse, several of whom appeared in 
large full-bottomed perukes, and were treated very irreve- 
rently ; the call of the adjutant-general for orders, also occu- 
pied some of his time, and we did not sit down to breakfast 
before ten o'clock. General Lee was engaged in answering 
General Gates's letter, and I had risen from the table, and 
was looking out of an end window, down a lane about one 
hundred yards in length, which led to the house from the 
main road, when I discovered a party of British dragoons 
turn a corner of the avenue at a full charge. Startled at this 
unexpected spectacle, I exclaimed, ' Here, sir, are the British 
cavalry.' ' Where V replied the general, who had signed his 
letter in the instant. ' Around the house ;' for they had 
opened files and encompassed the building. General Lee ap- 
peared alarmed, yet collected, and his second observation 
marked his self-possession : ' Where is the guard 1 — damn 



320 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



the guard, why don't they fire?' and after a momentary 
pause, he turned to me and said, ' Do, sir, see what has be- 
come of the guard.' The women of the house at this moment 
entered the room, and proposed to him to conceal himself in 
a bed, which he rejected with evident disgust. I caught up 
my pistols, which lay on the table, thrust the letter he had 
been writing into my pocket, and passed into a room at the 
opposite end of the house, where I had seen the guard in the 
morning. Here I discovered their arms ; but the men were 
absent. I stepped out of the door, and perceived the dragoons 
chasing them in different directions, and receiving a very 
uncivil salutation, I returned into the house. 

" Too inexperienced immediately to penetrate the motives of 
this enterprise, I considered the rencontre accidental, and from 
the terrific tales spread over the country, of the violence and 
barbarity of the enemy, I believed it to be a wanton, murder- 
ing party, and determined not to die without company. I 
accordingly sought a position where I could not be approached 
by more than one person at a time ; and with a pistol in each 
hand I awaited the expected search, resolved to shoot the 
first and the second person who might appear, and then to 
appeal to my sword. I did not remain long in this unpleasant 
situation, but was apprized of the object of the incursion by 
the very audible declaration, ' If the general does not surrender 
in Jive minutes, I will set fire to the house !' which after a short 
pause was repeated with a solemn oath; and within two 
minutes I heard it proclaimed, ' Here is the general, he has 
surrendered !' A general shout ensued, the trumpet sounded 
the assembly, and the unfortunate Lee, mounted on my horse , 
which stood ready at the door, was hurried oflf in triumph, 
bareheaded, in his slippers and blanket-coat, his collar open, 
and his shirt very much soiled from several days' use. 

" What a lesson of caution is to be derived from this event, 
and how important the admonitions furnished by it ! What 
an evidence of the caprice of fortune, of the fallibility of 
ambitious projects, and the inscrutable ways of Heaven ! The 
capture of General Lee was felt as a public calamity; it cast 
a gloom over the country, and excited general sorrow. This 



1776.] REVOLUTION. 321 

sympathy was honourable to the people, and due to the 
stranger who had embarked his fortune with theirs, and de- 
termined to, share their fate, under circumstances of more than 
common peril." — Wilkinson. 

General Sullivan, who succeeded General Lee, obeyed the 
orders of Washington promptly. He crossed the Delaware 
at Phillipsbourgh, and joined him about the close of Decem- 
ber. The American army now consisted of about 7000 men ; 
but as the term of the greater part expired with the year, it 
was threatened with total dissolution. 

Stationed in extensive cantonments through New Jersey, a 
distance of eighty miles, and separated from Philadelphia by 
the river Delaware only, the enemy waited for that river to 
be frozen, which would enable them to cross with the greatest 
facility. The situation of the Americans was desperate, and 
the expedient adopted by General Washington, now invested 
by Congress with dictatorial powers for six months, evinced 
his firm resolve to cut the cordon of the British line or die in 
the attempt. 

The night of Christmas was appointed to resume the offen- 
sive — to re-cross the Delaware and surprise the corps of Hes- 
sians at Trenton. He divided his army, consisting chiefly of 
Pennsylvania and Virginia militia, into three corps. With 
the first, numbering about 2500, he crossed the Delaware in 
company with Generals Sullivan and Greene, at McConkey's 
Ferry, about nine miles above Trenton. The second, com- 
manded by General Irwin, was directed to cross at Trenton 
Ferry ; and the third, under General Cadwallader, was to 
cross at Bristol, and proceed to Burlington. Washington, after 
great exertions, succeeded in effecting his part of the enter- 
prise, through the floating ice that obstructed the river, and 
landed at four o'clock in the morning. Pushing rapidly to 
Trenton by two separate roads — the one along the river, the 
other the Pennington road (where he commanded in per- 
son) — he reached the town at eight o'clock in the morning, 
before the Hessians, under Rahl, had any suspicion of his 
approach. Their advanced guards were immediately routed. 
A regiment was sent to their aid, but the first line threw the 

41 



322 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



second into disorder, and all scampered off to Trenton. Rahl 
then drew out his troops to meet the Americans in the field ; 
but here he was furiously attacked by the re-animated Ame- 
ricans ; and being mortally wounded in the onset, his troops 
fled from the battle-field, and left six pieces of light artillery. 
Attempting to escape by the Princeton road, Washington 
quickly despatched several companies to intercept their re- 
treat ; and about 1000 Hessians, under Rahl, Anspach, and 
Knyphausen, surrendered at discretion, their position not 
enabling them to speak of terms. 

If Generals Irwin and Cadwallader, detained by the ice 
and other obstacles, had reached in time, about 500 cavalry 
and light infantry, together with a foraging party, who 
escaped by the lower road to Bordentown, and indeed all the 
royal troops near the river, would have been surrounded and 
taken prisoners. 

" I had been despatched to General Washington for orders, 
and rode up to him at the moment Colonel Rahl, supported 
by a file of sergeants, was presenting his sword. On my 
approach, the commander-in-chief took me by the hand, and 
observed, 'Major Wilkinson, this is a glorious day for our 
country,' his countenance beaming with complacency ; whilst 
the unfortunate Rahl, who the day before would not have 
changed fortunes with him, now pale, bleeding and covered 
with blood, in broken accents seemed to implore those atten- 
tions which the victor was well disposed to bestow on him. 
IIow awful the contrast ! what a sad memento of the casual- 
ties of military life ! Such are thy blessings, O war ! — such 
the glories and the golden fruits * plucked from the cannon's 
mouth.' 

" In this affair we lost no officer, and those before men- 
tioned (Captain William Washington and Lieutenant James 
Monroe) with four men only were wounded, two were killed, 
and one frozen to death ; our trophies were four stand of 
colours, twelve drums, six brass field-pieces, a thousand stand 
of arms and accoutrements, and our prisoners twenty-three 
officers and almost a thousand non-commissioned officers and 
privates ; Colonel Rahl and six other officers, with about forty 



1776.] REVOLUTIOiN. 323 



men, were killed. The execution of this enterprise reflected 
high honour on General Washington ; but his triumph was 
abridged by the failure of two simultaneous attacks, one 
from Bristol, under General Cad wall ader, and the other by 
Trenton ferry, under General Irwin, which made a part of 
his plan. These officers employed every exertion to cross 
the river, but were baffled by the ice, and in consequence the 
fugitives escaped from Trenton, and Count Donop, with the 
detachments below, was enabled to make good his retreat to 
Princeton, otherwise these German cantonments would have 
been swept. 

"This was a desperate undertaking, justified by the deplo- 
rable state of our affairs, and worthy the chief who projected 
it. I have never doubted that he had resolved to stake his 
life on the issue. The joy diffused throughout the Union by 
the successful attack against Trenton, re-animated the timid 
friends of the revolution, and invigorated the confidence of 
the resolute. Perils and sufferings still in prospect, were 
considered the price of independence, and every faithful citi- 
zen was willing to make the sacrifice. Success had triumphed 
over despondency, and the heedless, headlong enthusiasm, 
which led the colonists to arms, had settled down into a sober 
sense of their condition, and a deliberate resolution to main- 
tain the contest at every hazard, and under every privation. 
The general impulse excited by passion was now improved 
by reason, and the American community began to feel and 
act like a nation determined to be free." 

Believing his troops to be inadequate to cope with the 
enemy quartered through New Jersey, the commander-in- 
chief, on the evening after the battle, abandoned Trenton and 
crossed over to the right side of the river with his prisoners, 
artillery and other trophies of victory. 

The desponding and the loyalists discrediting and denying 
the truth of this success, the American generals, desirous to 
revive the courage of the people, paraded these veteran 
troops, who had proved themselves so formidable upon many 
occasions, through the streets of Philadelphia in triumph, fol- 
lowed by their arms and banners. This, of course, was not 



324 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1776. 



intended as an insult to the fallen, but purely a matter of 
expediency, of which the Hessians, hiring themselves as in- 
struments of oppression, had no reason to complain. The 
Americans made the welkin ring with their unbounded ex- 
ultation, to see that it was not yet impossible to save the 
republic. The enemy were astonished at the sudden meta- 
morphosis of a defeated, almost annihilated army, into a vic- 
torious one, at a period when they thought the war nearly at 
an end. 

Washington, encouraged by his success and the spirit of 
his troops, whose morale was completely restored, again 
crossed the Delaware, and marched to Trenton at the head 
of 4000 men. 

Washington, the calm and prudent chief, was now a per- 
fect lion, giving full reins to his natural impetuosity, as the 
only possible means of success under the present state of 
affairs. If he sacrificed some of his prudence to give energy 
and impulse to his actions in a last resort, he never lost sight 
of it, and the end, every American believes, justified the 
means. 

The highest eulogium on these proceedings that can be 
given, is the effect they produced upon the minds of the enemy : 
" The British commander-in-chief was now seriously cdarmed," 
says their historian. " The British and auxiliary troops, with 
the forces at Brunswick under General Grant, advanced to 
Princeton ; and Lord Cornwallis, who was on the point of 
sailing for England, was immediately ordered to leave New 
York, and take the command of the Jersey army. As soon 
as his lordship joined General Grant, he marched to attack 
the enemy at Trenton. General Washington, on his approach, 
retired from the town, and, crossing a rivulet at the back of 
it, posted himself on some high grounds, seemingly with a 
determination of defending them. Both armies immediately 
commenced a severe cannonade, which continued till night. 
Lord Cornwallis determined to renew the attack next morn- 
ing, but General Washington resolved not to hazard a battle." 
Too inferior in numbers for a general battle — too near a 
formidable army to cross a large river, now more obstructed 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 325 



with ice than before, our chief resolved to carry the war into 
the heart of New Jersey. 

About one o'clock in the morning of the 3d of January, 
the baggage was sent down to Burlington, and about two, 
the enemy being perfectly quiet, the Americans, leaving their 
fires burning, and guards at the bridges and fords, with or- 
ders to continue the usual rounds of patrols, silently filed off 
by detachments, and the neighbouring fences were used to 
keep up a blazing fire to deceive the enemy, until near day, 
when they also retired. Proceeding by a very circuitous 
route through Allentown, he hastened to surprise and take 
Princeton. The expedition with which this grand manoeuvre 
was executed is almost incredible ; for about sunrise his van 
came up with Mawhood's detachment, which had just began 
its march from Princeton to Maidenhead, midway between 
Princeton and Trenton. This officer had been left at Prince- 
ton by Cornwallis to defend the place, but had just been 
ordered to I\Iaidenhead. He was entirely ignorant of the 
approach of the Americans, and the morning being foggy, he 
supposed them to be Hessians. Discovering it was part of 
the American army, and beginning to know the character of 
Washington, he conjectured that the vigilant chief had played 
them one of his nocturnal tricks. They were immediately 
charged with great spirit, but making a vigorous defence, the 
militia forming the vanguard gave way and retired. General 
Mercer attempted to rally them and was mortally wounded. 
Washington advanced and restored the battle with his con- 
querors of Trenton. The British, separated and overwhelmed, 
fled in every direction over fences and fields, without regard 
to roads ; blowing up their breath in fine wreaths of smoke 
on this cold morning and conjecturing what might become 
of the hindmost, every one stretched his speed to the utmost 
to outstrip his neighbour, and " live to fight another day." 
The pursuit was exceedingly animated, and the commander- 
in-chief, while encouraging the men, exclaimed, " It is a fine 
fox-chase, my boys /" Colonel Hand's Pennsylvania riflemen 
were first in the chase, and took the greatest number of pri- 
soners. Wilkinson says, " They were accompanied by Gene- 

_ 



326 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



ral Washington in person, with a squad of the Philadelphia 
troops, among whom Mr. John Donaldson distinguished him- 
self in an eminent degree ; in the ardour of the pursuit he 
had separated himself from the troop, and as the infantry 
could not keep up, he found himself alone and liable to be 
shot by any straggler of the enemy who would not surren- 
der ; yet, unwilling to slacken his pace, he mounted a lieute- 
nant Simpson behind him, who, whenever a fugitive threat- 
ened to be refractory, jumped off and shot him, and in this 
manner three men, whilst taking aim at Mr. Donaldson, were 
knocked down and his life saved ; but he made a score of 
prisoners, whom he sent to his rear after disarming them." 
The loss of the enemy was above 100 killed and 300 prison- 
ers ; the American loss was considerably less, but the fall of 
General Mercer was universally lamented ; he was a Scotch- 
man by birth, and a physician by profession. " He served 
in the campaign of 1755, with General Braddock, and was 
wounded through the shoulder in the unfortunate action near 
fort Du Quesne ; unable to retreat, he lay down under cover 
of a large fallen tree, and in the pursuit an Indian leaped 
upon his covert immediately over him, and, after looking 
about a few seconds for the direction of the fugitives, he 
sprang off without observing the wounded man who lay at 
his feet. So soon as the Indians had killed the wounded, 
scalped the dead, rifled the baggage, and cleared the field, 
the unfortunate Mercer, finding himself exceedingly faint and 
thirsty from loss of blood, crawled to an adjacent brook, and 
after drinking plentifully, found himself so much refreshed 
that he was able to walk, and commenced his return by the 
road the army had advanced ; but being without subsistence, 
and more than a hundred miles from any Christian settle- 
ment, he expected to die of famine, when he observed a 
rattlesnake on his path, which he killed and contrived to skin, 
and, throwing it over his sound shoulder, he subsisted on it 
as the claims of nature urged, until he reached fort Cumber- 
land, on the Potomac." 

This the critic will say should be in a note, but it saves 
the reader the trouble of looking down to the bottom of the 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 327 

page, and then groping his way back again to the place he 
read before. 

The long absence of Washington, who had been led away 
in the pursuit of the fugitives, began to excite great alarm for 
his safety among his troops, already assembled at Princeton ; 
but he soon appeared, to prepare for another running fight. 

Cornwallis awoke at Trenton, shook off the dew of the 
morning, and looked around, but Washington was non est 
inventus! Immediately abandoning his camp, Cornwallis 
hastened to Princeton, where he arrived almost as soon as 
Washington with the Grand Army, as it was then called, 
composed of a handful of men, half-naked, half-frozen, half- 
starved, and broken down with fatigue and two nights' loss 
of sleep. But the army was morally grand, amounting to 
sublimity. 

Washington left his enemy very abruptly ; crossed Mill- 
stone river, broke down the bridges behind him, passed the 
Raritan river, and soon reposed beyond the mountains, making 
his head-quarters at Morristown in upper Jersey, with a fine 
country in his rear to supply him with all necessaries, and 
through which he could readily find a passage over the Dela- 
ware. But he comes again : his troops refreshed, and rein- 
forced with a few battalions, he scours the country to the 
Raritan, under the very noses of the enemy ; he even crosses 
the river, and, penetrating into Essex county, seizes Newark, 
Elizabethtown, and Woodbridge, making himself master of 
the coast of Staten Island, brushing the lion's beard and 
staring him right in the face ! Truth is stranger than fiction, 
and the world never dreamed of anything more astonishing. 
The length and breadth of the country rung with the name 
of Washington, and continental Europe, filled with admiration 
and wonder at the splendour of the achievements, echoed the 
name back again. 

"Achievements so astonishing, acquired an immense glory 
for the captain-general of the United States. x\ll nations 
shared in the surpriseof the Americans; all equally admired and 
applauded the prudence, the constancy, and the noble intre- 
pidity of General Washington. A unanimous voice pronounced 



328 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



him the saviour of his country ; all extolled him as equal to the 
most celebrated commanders of antiquity ; all proclaimed him 
the Fabius of America. His name was in the mouths of all ; 
he was celebrated by the pens of the most distinguished 
writers. The most illustrious personages of Europe lavished 
upon him their praises and their congratulations. The 
American general, therefore, wanted neither a cause full of 
grandeur to defend, nor occasion for the acquisition of glory, 
nor genius to avail himself of it, nor the renown due to his 
triumphs, nor an entire generation of men perfectly well 
disposed to render him homage ;" and, we might add — nor 
patriotism to do all for his country. 

By this almost superhuman effort, Washington not only 
saved Philadelphia, but wrested nearly all New Jersey from 
the tyrant's grasp. Selecting his positions well, and fortify- 
ing them strongly, the royalists did not think it safe to attack 
him. New Brunswick and Amboy were the only two posts 
left to the enemy in the state, and these could have no com- 
munication with New York except by sea. Congress, by the 
advice of the generals, had retired to Baltimore, but now they 
immediately returned, which inspired the people with new 
hope and confidence. 



CHAPTER X. 

Expedition of the Enemy against American Provisions at Danbury, Connecticut 
— Heroic Conduct of Wooster and Arnold — Death of the former — Congress votes 
a Monument to the one, a Horse to the other. 

"Exigui numero, sed bello vivida virtus."^ 

Why not at once say, " Small in number, but of tried and 
war-proof valour," instead of resorting to an ancient, out- 
landish, dead language. The only reason I can see to quote 
other languages is to appear learned ! Now I claim an equal 
privilege with the rest, for we are all equally ignorant of the 
philosophy of those languages, for very obvious reasons : — 
# # « # ^ # * 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 329 



The Americans were not idle during the winter. They 
formed immense magazines of provisions, and stores of every 
description, against which the enemy planned expeditions 
before the regular opening of the campaign of the spring of 
1777. One was undertaken against Danbury, in Fairfield 
county, Connecticut. The command of the enterprise was 
given to Governor Tryon, General Agnew and Sir William 
Erskine. Reaching Danbury, without opposition, on the 26th 
of April, they destroyed 1800 barrels of beef and pork, 800 
of flour, 2000 barrels of grain, and 1790 tents; burned eigh- 
teen houses and murdered three unoffending inhabitants. 

Generals Wooster and Arnold, being in the neighbourhood, 
formed the bold design of cutting off their retreat. Wooster 
hung upon their rear, and harassed them incessantly, in 
defiance of their field-pieces to cover their flank and rear. 
In one of these skirmishes, however, the general, nearly 
seventy years of age, was mortally wounded, and died soon 
after. His soldiers, on the loss of their leader, immediately 
dispersed. 

At Ridgefield, Arnold had thrown up imperfect entrench- 
ments, when the enemy appeared, and a hot action ensued. 
The Americans were obliged to retire to Norfolk. The next 
morning Tryon, after burning some houses, renewed his march 
towards the Sound. Arnold, though beaten, was not conquered. 
He returned to the conflict and continually annoyed the 
enemy in their retreat to their ships, in which they returned 
to New York. The result of this expedition was beneficial 
to the American cause. The enemy not only lost 170 men in 
killed, wounded, and missing, but their barbarous conduct in 
wantonly destroying private property, exasperated the honest 
yeomanry of the country, and made them more firm in their 
resistance. 

Congress decreed that a monument should be erected to the 
memory of General Wooster ; and to General Arnold they 
presented a horse richly caparisoned, to testify their admira- 
tion of his gallantry. 



42 2c* 



330 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Outrages of the Enemy in New Jersey— Effect on the People — Howe's Attempt 
to lead Wasliington to an Engagement — Capture of Prescott — Howe sails to rhe 
Chesapeake — Lands on Elk River— Washington hastens to defend Philadelphia — 
Arrival of Lafayette — Battle of Brandywine — Retreat of the Americans. 

" Could I embody and unbosom now 

That which is most within me, — could I wreak 
My thoughts upon expression, and thus throw 

Soul, heart, mind, passions, feelings, strong and weak, 

All that I would have sought, and all I seek. 
Bear, know, feel, and yet breathe — into one word, 

And that one word were lightning, I would speak : 
But as it is, I live and die unheard. 
With a most voiceless thought, sheathing it as a sword." 

The royal troops remaining in New Jersey during the 
winter of 1777, were emphatically confined to Brunswick and 
Amboy ; for both places were in an actual state of siege. 
The Hessians, who were about as numerous as the British 
themselves in America, were objects of peculiar hatred, from 
the numerous and aggravated outrages they committed upon 
the inhabitants, whether royalists or patriots. No sooner did 
they venture from those villages to make their barbarous ex- 
cursions, than they were harassed, not only by the soldiers of 
Washington, but frequent ambuscades were prepared for 
them by the enraged people, who would cut them off by sur- 
prise and exterminate them. It was on one of these Hessian 
heads we studied the anatomy of the skull. 

The people of New Jersey, overawed by the success of the 
royal cause in the conquest of this province, had nearly all 
submitted to the enemy. But when the soldiers rewarded 
their loyalty by dishonouring wives in the presence of their 
husbands., daughters in the presence of their fathers, and 
sisters in the presence of their brothers, they flew to arms, 
with but one thought, and that was vengeance; and they 
would not have been men if they had not thus avenged their 
wrongs. 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 331 

When the mild season returned, Howe at length began to 
manoeuvre, but the direction he intended to give to his arms 
could not yet be ascertained. Whether he would penetrate 
through New Jersey and attempt to take possession of Phila- 
delphia, or proceed up the Hudson to co-operate with the 
army of Canada, was involved in impenetrable mystery. 
Always ready, however, for every emergency, Washington 
took such a position aa should enable him to oppose them 
with equal advantage, whether he moved towards Philadelphia 
or in the direction of Albany. 

After many manoeuvres, intended to deceive the Ameri- 
cans, on the night of the 14th of June, the whole British army, 
except 2000 who were left to protect Brunswick, was put in 
motion, in two columns, towards the Delaware. But Wash- 
ington, instead of being decoyed from his formidable position 
to stake his country's prospects upon the hazard of a single 
battle, and thus gratify the desire, and perhaps insure the 
success of the enemy, resolved to remain within his en- 
trenchments. To this conclusion our hero was led by the 
following reflections : Owing to their superiority of numbers 
the enemy are desirous of a general engagement, to destroy 
the American army. They are evidently attempting to 
draw me from my advantageous position by circumvention or 
sleight, which is shown by the fact, that Howe would not 
have the temerity of crossing the Delaware, where he would 
have to combat an army on the opposite side, under Arnold, 
and another still more formidable in his rear. If it had been 
the intention of the enemy to cross that river, they would 
have pushed on rapidly to its bank, instead of halting, as 
they have done, midway. They would have taken their 
bridge equipage, the baggage, and the batteaux with them, 
which we know they have left behind. 

Now reader, if you love to revel in the luxury o{ thinking, 
see that calm, sagacious, and dignified countenance of Wash- 
ington, gradually brightening into a smile of complacency as 
these thoughts are leading to a just and wise conclusion ; 
disappointing the sanguine hopes of the British, and inspiring 
the republicans with additional confidence. Unless you make 



332 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



such mental digressions, you lose all the poetry of history. 
Independent of the other considerations, the conclusion of 
Washington was in accordance with our XXVIIth maxim : 
" never to do what the enemy wishes you to do." 

About this time an adventure took place which spread great 
joy and exultation among the Americans. General Prescott, 
who commanded the British troops in Rhode Island, was sur- 
prised and carried off by Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, to re- 
taliate the capture of General Lee. The colonel, at the head 
of a party of forty militia, embarked in whale-boats, and 
carefully avoiding the vessels of the enemy, landed upon the 
western coast of Rhode Island, repaired to the lodgings of the 
general, and seized his sentinels. An aid-de-camp went up 
into the general's room, took him out of his bed, where he 
slept, and hurried him off, without giving him time to dress. 
Prescott had lately set a price on the head of General Arnold, 
who immediately resented the insult by offering an inferior 
price for the person of Prescott ; plainly indicating that his 
head was worth more than the British general's whole body. 
Congress thanked Barton, and presented him with a sword. 

After various other manoeuvrings, and unsuccessful attempts 
to destroy the American army by stratagem, the British, 
numbering 18,000 men, embarked at Sandy Hook on the 23d 
of July, in 260 vessels, sailed to Chesapeake Bay, up that 
bay, and landed not far from the head of Elk river, on the 
25th of August. Howe's forces consisted of thirty-six Hes- 
sian and British battalions, including light infantry and gre- 
nadiers, with a powerful artillery, a corps called the Queen's 
Rangers, and a regiment of cavalry. Howe at one time in- 
tended to have gone up the Delaware, but receiving intelli- 
gence that the river was obstructed by the Americans, he 
proceeded against Philadelphia by the way of Chesapeake 
Bay, as already stated. 

About this time the Marquis of Lafayette arrived in this 
country, and offered his services to Congress. We shall speak 
of him again at tne end of this chapter. 

As the British squadron had been seen on the 7th of August 
at the entrance of the Delaware, Washington, after a lapse 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 333 



of time, not hearing of the enemy having entered Chesapeake 
Bay, began to suspect that Charleston, South Carolina, would 
be attacked. Knowing, however, that he could not reach 
that place in time to afford it any assistance, and that if 
there were any prospects of success, the attempt would be 
imprudent, from the uncertainty of the enemy's destination, 
he wisely concluded to maintain his position, which enabled 
him to defend Pennsylvania, if the terrible storm was to 
burst upon that part of the country. 

Intelligence having at last been received of the appearance 
of the enemy in the Chesapeake, all the doubts and uncertain- 
ties of our commander were dissipated, and he hastened to 
meet the formidable foe, face to face. Orders were despatched 
to the officers of his detached corps, to meet him at Philadel- 
phia, to proceed thence to the head of the Chesapeake. The 
militia of the neighbouring states were ordered to join the 
army, to defend the capital. To show the importance of this 
call, and at the same time to prove the truth of the assertion 
of Frederick the Great, that Washington was the greatest 
general of the age, we will give the following view of the 
relative strength of the foreign and American armies, from a 
history written by a tory, who, of course, would naturally 
abstain from representing their armies too large, and ours too 
small : 

British and American force in 1776, 

Dates. British Troops. American Troops. 

August 24,000 16,000 

November 26,900 4,500 

December 27,700 3,300 

In 1777. 

March 27,000 4,500 

June 30,000 8,000 

The American army having marched through Philadelphia 
for the double purpose of encouraging their friends and to 
overawe the tories, advanced to White Clay Creek, where it 
encamped. Leaving his riflemen to guard the camp, our 
chief commander proceeded with the main army behind Red 
Clay Creek, extending it up that creek from Newport, situ- 



334 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 

ated near the Christiana River, below Wilmington, in the 
state of Delaware. 

On the 28th of August the British army moved forward 
to a village at the head of Elk river, and fixing its head-quar- 
ters here, on the 3d of September a part of the army moved 
on to take post on Iron Hill. On the 8th of September the 
commander-in-chief was joined by Generals Grant and Knyp- 
hausen, who had been left upon the coast to cover the de- 
barkation of the artillery and military stores ; when the whole 
army moved forward in two columns towards Philadelphia. 
As the enemy approached, Washington saw that he was in 
danger of being out-flanked on his right, and retired with his 
troops behind Brandywine river or creek, which he knew the 
enemy had to cross to proceed to Philadelphia, and which, 
though everywhere fordable, he resolved to defend ; knowing 
that nothing but a victory could save the capital. 

With this conclusion and resolve, batteries were erected 
on the banks of the little river, and entrenchments thrown 
up at Chad's Ford, where it was supposed the enemy would 
most probably attempt a passage. 

While the Americans were thus occupied at Chad's Ford, 
Howe, early on the morning of the 11th, proceeded to the 
execution of his plan, which was to attack that ford with his 
right column, commanded by General Knyphausen, while his 
left column, under Lord Cornwallis, made a circuit of several 
miles, and marched up to the forks of the Brandywine, which 
he crossed with a view to gain the rear of the Americans. 



" But hark ! that heavy sound breaks in once more, 
As if the clouds its echo would repeat ; 
And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before !" 



* 



" And there was mounting in hot haste : the steed, 

The mustering squadron, and the clattering car, 

Went pouring forward with impetuous speed, 

And swiftly forming in the ranks of war; 

And the deep thunder peal on peal afar ; 

And near, the beat of the alarming drum 

Roused up the soldier. * * w 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 335 



Knyphausen, who had advanced with his column, com- 
menced a furious attack on the Americans, who, prepared to 
receive him, defended themselves with great gallantry. They 
not only maintained their ground, but several detachments 
crossing the river, fell upon, and harassed the enemy's flank ; 
but, overcome by numbers, they were obliged to re-cross the 
river, while the enemy kept up a roar of artillery and mus- 
ketry that seemed to indicate a determination to force the 
passage of Chad's Ford. 

In the midst of this engagement, Washington received in- 
telligence of the movements of Cornwallis, who was march- 
ing on the road to Dilworth on the left bank of the river. 
The British army thus divided, and representations having 
been erroneously made to our commander-in-chief that Howe 
commanded in person his main army, which was about to at- 
tack his right wing, he decided upon the bold and apparently 
necessary expedient of beating the enemy's right wing, while 
they attacked his right — thus giving wing for wing, with 
prospects of overwhelming Knyphausen, who all this time 
was keeping up a terrible noise. 

Washington's plan, promptly formed, was, to cross the 
river with his centre and left wing and make a desperate 
attack on Knyphausen. General Sullivan was ordered to 
cross the river with his division, above the German general, 
and fall upon his left flank, while Washington in person would 
pass it lower down and fall upon his right. 

The troops had no sooner been put in motion than a second 
report came, that the British had not crossed the branches of 
the Brandywine, and that it was only a feint of the enemy. 
Our troops were immediately ordered back, when a third 
report arrived, giving positive assurance that the enemy had 
crossed the river ! 

General Wayne defended Chad's Ford ; Generals Sullivan, 
Stirling, and Stephen commanded the right wing of the Ame- 
rican army ; while Washington, followed by Greene, posted 
himseJf in a position where he might aid either Wayne or 
Sullivan, as occasion might require. 

Sullivan met the enemy above Birmingham meeting-house, 



336 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 

(which is yet standing,) having previously planted his artil- 
lery on the neighbouring hills. 

As soon as the Americans appeared, the British sounded 
the charge, advanced rapidly up the gentle acclivity, about 
half a mile in length, on the top of which the Americans 
were situated, and commenced the fight with the greatest im- 
petuosity, before the right wing of our army had time to 
form. With this great disadvantage on the part of the Ame- 
ricans, (who were also much inferior in numbers and in 
arms,) the armies rushed together in fierce and desperate con- 
flict, and the carnage became terrible. The republicans 
poured fire after fire upon the enemy ; their artillery hurled 
the messengers of death amid thundering peals from the 
neighbouring hills ; then dismal, roaring, fierce and deep the 
gloom of battle poured along ; the smoke obscured every 
object and ascended to the skies ; the continual flashes of fire 
imparted to the moving figures, through the dismal scene, a 
spectral appearance ; the commanders rushed along like some 
dreadful spirits who come in the roar of a thousand storms 
and scatter battles from their eyes, and all seems to indicate 
that they must be victorious if their arms are like their souls. 
Higher and higher rises the noise of battle ; the blood is 
streaming down the hill ; the wounded mingle their voices 
with the fearful din of arms ; the ground is strewn with the 
dead, and the living rush over their bodies, and over the 
wounded, groaning and shrieking in despair. A rider falls, 
and the terrified steed 

" fast as shaft can fly, 



Blood-shot his eyes, his nostrils spread. 
The loose rein dangling from his head, 
Housing and saddle bloody red," 

rushes over the standing and the fallen. Another rider falls, 
and again his steed, wounded and furious, spurns all restraint, 
and flies over the field of strife, through the midst of the con- 
fused and dreadful scene of slaughter. The rocking woods 
echoed around ; the inhabitants, as they fled along the dis- 
tant hills, turned a hasty and terrified look in the direction 
of the battle-field ; women with dishevelled hair, fly scream- 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 337 

ing over the fields, carrying, dragging, or leading their chil- 
dren beyond the reach of danger. Animals of every descrip- 
tion manifest their terror and astonishment at the fearful 
tumult. Dogs are howling piteously ; the lowing herd, aroused 
from their wonted torpor, run helter-skelter over the land ; 
the draught-horse, freed from restraint, pricks up his ears, 
dashes his mane proudly to the winds, and, with a speed and 
energy not usually his own, bounds away with sidelong looks ; 
then slacks his pace, looks wild — snorts and neighs, and, tak- 
ing fresh alarm, tries again the speed of his clumsy limbs. 

Now turn we to the field once more. The unshaken courage 
and desperate efforts of the republicans could not resist the 
numerous assailants. Their imperfectly formed wing gave 
way first, which exposing the flank of the centre to a galling 
fire, the confusion rapidly ran along the line, until the rout 
became general. A great effort was made to rally the fugi- 
tives, but the pursuit, not allowing time to form, rendered it 
impossible. The Americans, unable to save themselves with 
their ayms, resolved to make good use of their legs, with a 
firm resolve to fight another day, which they did, and some of 
them the same day. They fled through the woods like the 
newly fallen leaves before the rushing breath of the tempest— 
the enemy close behind them. They were still threatened 
with total ruin, when General Greene came up with the 
reserve, and, by a singularly skilful manoeuvre, opened his 
ranks for the fugitives, and after they had passed through, 
like a father protecting his children, closed his ranks behind 
them, checked the pursuit of the enemy by the fire of his 
artillery, and completely covered the retreat. This, M'ith 
many other splendid achievements, invests the character of 
Greene with an air of romance, which will always be felt by 
the American people, and elicit unbounded praises from the 
unborn Homers of our country. 

General Greene continued his retreat until he came to a 
narrow pass, covered on both sides by woods, when he drew 
up his corps, composed of Pennsylvanians and Virginians, 
and fought the enemy in a brave and heroic manner. 

In the meantime, Knyphausen crossed Chad's Ford, which, 

43 2^ 



338 THE ARMY A]SD NAVY. [1777. 

for a time, was resolutely defended, but the Americans, seeing 
the approach of the enemy upon their right flank, fled in dis- 
order, as the only possible means of saving themselves from 
captivity. In this flight, they passed behind General Greene, 
who was still defending the pass, and who, by his gallant 
conduct, saved them from being surrounded and taken pri- 
soners. Here Greene stood like a pillar of fire, and fought 
until dark, when he retired, undismayed, from this Ther- 
mopylae of America, and from a field where battle had raged 
nearly all day. The volleys gradually ceased, while the roar 
of battle died away in distant echoes, and nothing was now 
heard but the groans and prayers of the wounded. 

" The mortal strife was o'er, and dimly shone 
The waning moon upon the field of Wood; 

Rank upon rank, in swaths of carnage mown, 
Lay the dead combatants for many a rood, 
Mixed, man and steed, in crimson brotherhood ; 

A stifling mist steamed from the gory plain, 
Tainting the freshness of that solitude ; 

While with glazed eyes, and leaden stare inane, 
Glared through the ghastly haze the faces of the slain. 

Bright, here and there, among the trampled wreck 

Of arms and banners, soil'd with bloody clay, 
The moonlight glimmer'd on some star-like speck 

Of bumish'd steel, unsullied in the fray ; 

Afar, the white tents of the soldier lay, 
Whence frequent peal'd the victor's bacchant cheer, 

Oft mingled with the wounded charger's neigh, 
Or groan of dying warrior; while, more near, 
A dog's long, piercing howl smote on the startled ear. 

It was the wail of a lone brute, that crouch'd, 
Faithful in death, his master's corse beside ; 

Aught, save Ambition's heart, it would have touch'd, 
To see with what devotedness he tried 
To win some sign of love, v/here none replied ; 

Then, all his coaxing wiles essay'd in vain, 
He gazed on the pale features, as to chide, 

But could not their mysterious look sustain, 
And, turning from the dead, howl'd to the winds again." 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 339 



We will now redeem our promise and speak again of La- 
fayette ; and in doing so we shall avail ourselves of copious 
extracts from an oration on the life and character of Gilbert 
Motier de Lafayette, delivered before Congress, in 1834, by 
John Quincy Adams. 

"As in the firmament of heaven, that rolls over our heads, 
there is, among the stars of the first magnitude, one so pre- 
eminent in splendour, as, in the opinion of astronomers, to 
constitute a class by itself; so, in the fourteen hundred years 
of the French monarchy, among the multitudes of great and 
mighty men which it has evolved, the name of Lafayette 
stands unrivalled in the solitude of glory, 

"At Mentz, at an entertainment given by a relative of La- 
fayette, the Marechal de Broglie, the commandant of the 
place, to the Duke of Gloucester, brother to the British king, 
and then a transient traveller through that part of France, 
he learns, as an incident of intelligence received that morn- 
ing by the English prince from London, that the Congress of 
rebels, at Philadelphia, had issued a Declaration of Indepen- 
dence. A conversation ensues upon the causes which have 
contributed to produce this event, and upon the consequences 
which may be expected to flow from it. The imagination of 
Lafayette has caught across the Atlantic tide the spark emit- 
ted from the Declaration of Independence ; his heart has 
kindled at the shock, and, before he slumbers upon his pillow, 
he has resolved to devote his life and fortune to the cause. 

" You have before you the cause and the man. The self- 
devotedness of Lafayette was twofold. First, to the people, 
maintaining a bold and seemingly desperate struggle against 
oppression, and for national existence. Secondly, and chiefly, 
to the principles of their Declaration, which then first un- 
furled before his eyes the consecrated standard of human 
rights. To that standard, without an instant of hesitation, 
he repaired. Where it would lead him, it is scarcely proba- 
ble that he himself then foresaw. It was then identical with 
the stars and stripes of the American Union, floating to the 
breeze from the Hall of Independence, at Philadelphia. Nor 
sordid avarice, nor vulgar ambition could point his footsteps 



340 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



to the pathway leading to that banner. To the love of ease 
or pleasure nothing could be more repulsive. Something 
may be allowed to the beatings of the youthful breast, which 
make ambition virtue, and something to the spirit of military 
adventure, imbibed from his profession, and which he felt in 
common with many others. France, Germany, Poland, fur- 
nished to the armies of this Union, in our revolutionary 
struggle, no inconsiderable number of officers of high rank 
and distinguished merit. The names of Pulaski and De Kalb 
are numbered among the martyrs of our freedom, and their 
ashes repose in our soil side by side with the canonized bones 
of Warren and of Montgomery. To the virtues of Lafayette, 
a more protracted career and happier earthly destinies were 
reserved. To the moral principle of political action, the 
sacrifices of no other man were comparable to his. Youth, 
health, fortune; the favour of his king; the enjoyment of 
ease and pleasure; even the choicest blessings of domestic 
felicity ; he gave them all for toil and danger in a distant 
land, and an almost hopeless cause ; but it was the cause of 
justice, and of the rights of human kind. 

" The resolve is firmly fixed, and it now remains to be car- 
ried into execution. On the 7th of December, 1776, Silas 
Deane, then a secret agent of the American Congress at Pa- 
ris, stipulates with the Marquis de Lafayette that he shall 
receive a commission, to date from that day, of major-gene- 
ral in the army of the United States ; and the marquis stipu- 
lates, in return, to depart when and how Mr. Deane shall 
judge proper, to serve the United States with all possible 
zeal, without pay or emolument, reserving to himself only 
the liberty of returning to Europe if his family or his king 
should recall him. 

"Neither his family nor his king were willing that he should 
depart; nor had Mr. Deane the power, either to conclude 
this contract, or to furnish the means of his conveyance to 
America. Difficulties rise up before him only to be dispersed, 
and obstacles thicken, only to be surmounted. The day 
after the signature of the contract, Mr. Deane's agency was 
superseded by the arrival of Doctor Benjamin Franklin and 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 341 

Arthur Lee, as his colleagues in commission ; nor did they 
think themselves authorized to confirm his engagements. La- 
fayette is not to be discouraged. The commissioners extenu- 
ate nothing of the unpromising condition of their cause. Mr. 
Deane avows his inability to furnish him with a passage to 
the United States. ' The more desperate the cause,' says 
Lafayette, ' the greater needhas it of my service, and, if Mr. 
Deane has no vessel for my passage, I shall purchase one 
myself, and will traverse the ocean with a selected company 
of my own.' 

" Other impediments arise. His design becomes known to 
the British ambassador at the court of Versailles, who re- 
monstrates to the French government against it. At his in- 
stance, orders are issued for the detention of the vessel pur- 
chased by the marquis, and fitted out at Bordeaux, and for 
the arrest of his person. To elude the first of these orders, 
the vessel is removed from Bordeaux to the neighbouring port 
of Passage, within the dominion of Spain. The order for his 
own arrest is executed ; but, by stratagem and disguise, he 
escapes from the custody of those who have him in charge, 
and, before a second order can reach him, he is safe on the 
ocean wave, bound to the land of independence and of 
freedom. 

" It had been necessary to clear out the vessel for an island 
of the West Indies; but, once at sea, he avails himself of his 
right as owner of the ship, and compels his captain to steer 
for the shores of emancipated North America. He lands, 
with his companions, on the 25th of April, 1777, in South 
Carolina, not far from Charleston, and finds a most cordial 
reception and hospitable welcome in the house of Major 
Huger. 

" Every detail of this adventurous expedition, full of inci- 
dents, combining with the simplicity of historical truth all 
the interest of romance, is so well known, and so familiar to 
the memory of all who hear me, that I pass them over with- 
out further notice. 

" From Charleston he proceeded to Philadelphia, where the 
Congress of the revolution were in session, and where he 

__ 



342 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



offered his services in the cause. Here, again, he was met 
with difficulties, which, to men of ordinary minds, would 
have been insurmountable. Mr. Deane's contracts were so 
numerous, and for offices of rank so high, that it was impos- 
sible they should be ratified by the Congress. He had stipu- 
lated for the appointment of other major-generals ; and, in 
the same contract with that of Lafayette, for eleven other 
officers, from the rank of colonel to that of lieutenant. To 
introduce these officers, strangers, scarcely one of whom 
could speak the language of the country, into the American 
army, to take rank and precedence over the native citizens, 
whose ardent patriotism had pointed them to the standard of 
their country, could not, without great injustice, nor without 
exciting the most fatal dissensions, have been done ; and this 
answer was necessarily given, as well to Lafayette, as to the 
other officers who had accompanied him from Europe.-^ His 
reply was, an offer to serve as a volunteer, and without pay. 
Magnanimity, thus disinterested, could not be resisted, nor 
could the sense of it be worthily manifested by a mere ac- 
ceptance of the offer. On the 31st of July, 1777, therefore, 
the following resolution and preamble are recorded upon the 
journals of Congress : 

" ' Whereas, the Marquis de Lafayette, out of his great zeal 
to the cause of liberty, in which the United States are en- 
gaged, has left his family and connections, and, at his own 
expense, come over to offer his services to the United States, 
without pension, or particular allowance, and is anxious to 
risk his life in our cause : 

" ' Resolved, that his services be accepted, and that, in con- 
sideration of his zeal, illustrious family, and connections, he 
have the rank and commission of major-general in the army 
of the United States.' 

" He had the rank and commission, but no command as a 
major-general. With this, all personal ambition was gratified ; 
and whatever services he might perform, he could attain no 
higher rank in the American army. The discontents of offi- 
cers already in the service, at being superseded in command 
j by a stripling foreigner, were disarmed ; nor was the prudence 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 343 

of Congress, perhaps, without its influence in withholding a 
command, which, but for a judgment, ' premature beyond 
the slow advance of years,' might have hazarded something 
of the sacred cause itself, by confidence too hastily bestowed. 

" The day after the date of his commission, he was introduced 
to Washington. It was the critical period of the campaign 
of 1777. The British army, commanded by Lord Howe, was 
advancing from the head of Elk, to which they had been 
transported by sea from New York, upon Philadelphia. 
Washington, by a counteracting movement, had been ap- 
proaching from his line of defence in the Jerseys, towards the 
city, and arrived there on the 1st of August. It was a meet- 
ing of congenial souls. At the close of it, Washington gave 
the youthful stranger an invitation to make the head-quarters 
of the commander-in-chief his home ; that he should establish 
himself there at his own time, and consider himself at all 
times as one of his family. It was natural that, in giving 
this invitation, he should remark the contrast of the situation 
in which it would place him, with that of ease and comfort, 
and luxurious enjoyment, which he had left, at the splendid 
court of Louis XVI., and of his beautiful and accomplished, 
but ill-fated queen, then at the very summit of all which 
constitutes the common estimate of felicity. To Lafayette, 
the soil of freedom was his country. His post of honour was 
the post of danger. His fireside was the field of battle. He 
accepted with joy the invitation of Washington, and repaired 
forthwith to the camp. The bond of indissoluble friendship 
— the friendship of heroes — was sealed from the first hour of 
their meeting, to last throughout their lives, and to live in the 
memory of mankind for ever. 

" It was, perhaps, at the suggestion of the American com- 
missioners in France, that this invitation was given by Wash- 
ington. In a letter from them, on the 25th of May, 1777, to 
the committee of Foreign Affairs, they announce that the 
marquis had departed for the United States in a ship of his 
own, accompanied by some officers of distinction, in order to 
serve in our armies. They observe that he is exceedingly 
beloved, and that every body's good wishes attend him. They 



344 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



cannot but hope that he will meet with such a reception as 
will make the country and his expedition agreeable to him. 
They further say, that those who censure it as imprudent in 
him, do, nevertheless, applaud his spirit ; and they are satisfied 
that civilities and respect shown to him will be serviceable to 
our cause in France, and pleasing not only to his powerful 
relations, and to the court, but to the whole French nation. 
They finally add, that he had left a beautiful young wife, and 
for her sake, particularly, they hoped that his bravery and 
ardent desire to distinguish himself would be a little restrained 
by the general's [Washington's] prudence, so as not to per- 
mit his being hazarded much, but upon some important oc- 
casion. 

" The battle of Brandywine was the first action in which 
Lafayette was engaged, and the first lesson of his practical 
military school, at the age of nineteen years, was a lesson of 
misfortune. In the attempt to rally the American troops in 
their retreat, he received a musket-ball in the leg. He was 
scarcely conscious of the wound till made sensible of it by 
the loss of blood, and even then ceased not his exertions in 
the field till he had secured and covered the retreat." 

To pursue the orator any further would be getting in ad- 
vance of our history ; we shall, therefore, merely remark for 
the present, that, upon the recommendation of Washington, 
Lafayette soon obtained a command from Congress in the 
American army, and conclude this chapter by one more ex- 
tract from the orator, and a beautiful tribute from the bard. 

" But where, in the rolls of history, in the fictions of ro- 
mance, where, but in the life of Lafayette, has been seen the 
noble stranger, flying, with the tribute of his name, his rank, 
his affluence, his ease, his domestic bliss, his treasure, his 
blood, to the relief of a suflTering and distant land, in the hour 
of her deepest calamity — baring his bosom to her foes ; and 
not at the transient pageantry of a tournament, but for a suc- 
cession of five years sharing all the vicissitudes of her for- 
tunes ; always eager to appear at the post of danger — tem- 
pering the glow of youthful ardour with the cold caution of 
a veteran commander ; bold and daring in action ; prompt in 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 345 

execution ; rapid in pursuit ; fertile in expedients ; unattain- 
able in retreat ; often exposed, but never surprised, never 
disconcerted; eluding his enemy when within his fancied 
grasp ; bearing upon him with irresistible sway when of 
force to cope with him in the conflict of arms. And what is 
this but the diary of Lafayette, from the day of his rallying 
the scattered fugitives of the Brandywine, insensible of the 
blood flowing from his wound, to the storming of the redoubt 
at Yorktown ?" 

"None knew thee but to love thee, 
Or named thee but to praise." 

" 'Twas his, in manhood's blushing prime, to tread 
Imperial halls with coroneted head ; 
To bask in royal smiles, or lead the dance 
Amid the gayest, gallantest of France ; 
Or, gladly loosed from grandeur's courtly thrall, 
At gentle Hymen's sweet enticing call 
To seek his princely home, and fondly rest 
His honour'd brow on wedded beauty's breast. 

And never more the youthful lord shall leave 

His blooming Eden and his blushing Eve, 

But softly yield to love's voluptuous hours 

His princely fortune and exalted powers ; 

Oh ! sooner deem the spider's brittle tie 

Could hold the eagle from his native sky, 

Than that luxurious indolence could bind 

One little hour that angel-pinion'd mind I 

E'en now he springs from love's inglorious rest 

With arm'd right arm and wildly-heaving breast; 

What stirring thoughts his youthful heart inspire 1 

Why bums his eye with unaccustom'd ire 1 

Lo ! on his startled ear the winds have blown 

The clank of chains where bleeding millions groan, 

And swift he breaks from nature's dearest ties. 

In Freedom's cause life, all to jeopardize; 

While every charm to home and Hymen wed. 

Is crush'd like flowers beneath a giant's tread. 

Far o'er the deep, with hopes unspurr'd by fame. 
The warrior-pilgrim in his glory came, 
Pour'd his full purse in Freedom's empty hand, 
And with her foremost sternly took his stand ; 

44 ~~ 



346 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



Fought, bled, nor falter'd till the strife was o'er. 
And the last foe was hunted from her shore." 



CHAPTER XII. 

Washington prepares for another Battle — Armies separated by a Storm — Mas- 
sacre at Paoli — Howe takes Philadelphia, or Philadelphia takes Howe — Congress 
retires to Lancaster — Howe attempts to open the Delaware — Washington surprises 
Howe at Germantown — Battle of Germantown — Retreat of Washington in one 
Direction and the Enemy in another — Philadelphia in a kind of Blockade. 

"They fought like two contending storms that strive to roll the wave." 

The night after the battle of Brandywine, the American 
army, leaving three hundred killed, six hundred wounded, 
and four hundred prisoners, retired to Chester, and the fol- 
lowing day to Philadelphia, by the way of Darby. Some of 
the troops were stationed in the environs of Germantown, 
and others were sent to the right bank of the Schuylkill, to 
watch the movements of the enemy and repress their incur- 
sions, while Washington conferred with Congress. 

On the 15th he returned to camp, led all his forces to the 
right bank of the Schuylkill again, proceeded along the Lan- 
caster road to the Warren tavern, with the intention of risk- 
ing another engagement. Howe, receiving intelligence of the 
approach of the Americans, advanced to Goshen, when the 
two armies being only five miles from each other, prepara- 
tions were made for battle. The advanced parties had met, 
when such a violent storm of rain came up that the soldiers 
were obliged to cease their fire. Washington re-crossed the 
Schuylkill at Parker's Ferry, and encamped on Perkioming 
Creek. 

General Wayne had concealed himself in the woods near 
the left wing of the enemy, with 1500 men, with the design 
of harassing the rear of their army. This being discovered 
by the spies of Howe, he sent a detachment in the night to 
surprise him. Wayne's outposts were killed ; and as orders 
had been given to use the bayonets only, the British troops 
rushed into the American encampment, before the alarm was 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 347 



given, and a dreadful slaughter ensued. Three hundred were 
killed and wounded, and one hundred taken prisoners ; and 
nothing but the coolness of Wayne saved the whole corps 
from being cut off. He quickly rallied a few regiments, who 
withstood the shock, while the others retreated. The bayo- 
neting was carried to such a cruel and unnecessary degree, 
that the affair has been called the Paoli massacre. 

The enemy now made such dispositions as led Washington 
to suppose they intended to cross the Schuylkill above his 
encampment, and seize the extensive military stores at Read- 
ing ; and he retired up the river to Pottsgrove. Howe, chang- 
ing his course, crossed the river at Gordon's, and at Flatland 
Ford, and encamped upon the left bank. Thus, situated be- 
tween the American army and Philadelphia, nothing could 
arrest the progress of the enemy but another battle, for which 
the multitude called loudly, to rescue the city. The pru- 
dence of Washington, however, dictated a different course 
than blindly to risk all at an inauspicious period, and when 
no reinforcements had arrived. 

On the 26th, Howe advanced to Germantown, six miles 
from Philadelphia, and on the succeeding day. Lord Corn- 
wallis, at the head of a strong detachment, took possession 
of Philadelphia. Congress retired to Lancaster ; and placing 
their hopes and their unbounded confidence in the com- 
mander-in-chief, invested him once more with dictatorial 
powers. 

Washington descended along the Schuylkill until he arrived 
within sixteen miles of Germantown, and encamped at Ship- 
pack Creek, to wait until his wisdom or the providence of 
God should open the way for new enterprises, enabling him 
to strike again for the salvation of the infant republic. 

The attention of General Howe was directed t© the reduc- 
tion of some forts on the Delaware, and the removal of the 
chevaux-de-frise, composed of immense beams of timber, 
fastened together, stuck with iron pikes, and sunk across the 
river, just below the mouth of the Schuylkill. The object of 
the enemy was, of course, to open a communication between 
the fleet and the army. On the approach of the enemy to- 



348 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



l1 



wards the lower barrier, the Americans, unable to sustain an 
assault, spiked their guns, and precipitately retired ; when 
the British, with great labour and perseverance, cut away 
and hauled up enough of the chevaux-de-frise, to open a 
narrow passage for their ships. But we shall see hereafter, 
that this was not the only obstruction to the navigation of 
the river to Philadelphia. 

The British army at Germantown, being sensibly weakened 
after these detachments were despatched, one to take Phila- 
delphia, and the other to the forts of the Delaware, Wash- 
ington, who had reposed at Shippack creek, like a lion couchant, 
shook off the morning dew, and began to roar again. He 
resolved to fall upon the British encampment unexpectedly, 
and beat them in detail. 

The battle of Germantown, though well planned, and 
commenced with every prospect of victory, soon became a 
scene of inextricable confusion, owing to the dense fog, which 
forbade that concert of action, so essential to avoid disorder. 
Each officer, unable to look far beyond his nose, has given a 
different account of many of the manoeuvres and incidents 
which occurred. A battle in a fog is a Gordian knot for the 
historian. 

At seven o'clock in the evening of the 3d of October, 
Washington quitted his encampment, and at the dawn of day 
the next morning commenced his attack on Howe, who is 
said to have exclaimed, " My God ! what shall we do ? We 
are certainly surrounded." 

We have now on our table fifteen different descriptions of 
this battle, and, unwilling to enter into a discussion (which 
would occupy too much space) to reconcile conflicting opin- 
ions, we shall transcribe Botta's account, which we believe 
to be the best, and which sets forth, in a striking manner, the 
consummate skill and military talents of Washington. 

A high estimate of a man's military character is too often 
formed from his turbulent spirit ; his imprudent daring or 
headlong impetuosity is often regarded as genuine courage 
and military skill. Such a man looks only to the present, and 
would risk all in a single engagement. But a man like 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 349 



Washington looks far into the future, risks nothing where the 
loss might be irretrievable, and always calculates profoundly 
how far he may risk without permanent injury to his cause, 
in case of check. When defeated, he repairs his losses with 
so much despatch, that he is soon able not only to hold the 
enemy at bay, but to fight him again, or even turn his own 
defeats to his advantage. The character of the one dazzles 
the superficial observer ; while the apparent tameness of the 
other seems to him like mediocrity of talents ! The one may 
with propriety lead the head of a column to the attack ; but 
it requires the other to conduct a campaign. The good ac- 
count to which Washington turned his defeats, we shall pre- 
sently see. 

We love to moralize, but having so many battles to fight 
yet, they leave us no room for such reflections ; besides, it is 
generally best to let every man draw his own inferences from 
facts, instead of the author obtruding his own biassed notions 
upon the reader. To illustrate this position, we shall merely 
remark that when the British authors denounce the French 
revolution ; the character of its illustrious leaders, and the 
spirit of republicanism, on the same page; and attribute all 
the dreadful reverses of that nation to a want of obedience to 
the divine authority of her kings, they moralize most abomi- 
nably. Their reasoning and moralizing amounts to this. 

" Germantown is a considerable village, about half a dozen 
miles from Philadelphia, and which, stretching on both sides 
of the great road to the northward, forms a continuous street 
of two miles in length. The British line of encampment 
crossed Germantown at right angles about the centre, the 
left wing extending on the west from the town to the Schuyl- 
kill. That wing was covered in front by the mounted and 
dismounted German chasseurs, who were stationed a little 
above towards the American camp ; a battalion of light in- 
fantry and the Queen's American Rangers, were in the front 
of the right. The centre, being posted within the town, was 
guarded by the fortieth regiment, and another battalion of 
light infantry stationed about three-quarters of a mile above 
the head of the village. Washington resolved to attack the 



^)50 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 

British by surprise, not doubting that, it he succeeded in 
breaking them, as they were not only distant, but totally 
separated from the fleet, his victory must be decisive. 

" He so disposed his troops, that the divisions of Sullivan 
and Wayne, flanked by Conway's brigade, were to march 
down the main road, and, entering the town by the way of 
Chesnut Hill, to attack the English centre, and the right flank 
of their left wing ; the divisions of Greene and Stephens, 
flanked by Macdougald's brigade, were to take a circuit 
towards the east, by the Lime-kiln road, and, entering the 
town at the market-house, to attack the left flank of the right 
wing. The intention of the American general in seizing the 
village of Germantown by a double attack, was effectually to 
separate the right and left wings of the royal army, which 
must have given him a certain victory. In order that the 
left flank of the left wing might not contract itself, and sup- 
port the right flank of the same wing, General Armstrong, 
with the Pennsylvania troops, was ordered to march down 
the bridge road upon the banks of the Schuylkill, and endea- 
vour to turn the English, if they should retire from that river. 

" In like manner, to prevent the right flank of the right 
wins from going to the succour of the left flank, which rested 
upon Germantown, the militia of Maryland and Jersey, under 
Generals Smallwood and Forman, were to march down the 
Old York road, and to fall upon the English on that extremity 
of their wing. The division of Lord Sterling, and the bri- 
gades of Generals Nash and Maxwell, formed the reserve. 
These dispositions being made, Washington quitted his camp 
at Shippack creek, and moved towards the enemy, on the 3d 
of October, about seven in the evening. Parties of cavalry 
silently scoured all the roads, to seize any individual who 
might have given notice to the British general of the danger 
that threatened him. Washington in person accompanied 
the column of Sullivan and Wayne. The march was rapid 
and silent. 

" At three o'clock in the morning, the British patroles dis- 
covered the approach of the Americans ; the troops were soon 
called to arms ; each took his post with the precipitation of 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 351 



surprise. About sunrise the Americans came up. General 
Conway, having driven in the pickets, fell upon the fortieth 
regiment and the battalion of light infantry. These corps, 
after a short resistance, being overpowered by numbers, were 
pressed and pursued into the village. Fortune appeared al- 
ready to have declared herself in favour of the Americans; 
and certainly, if they had gained complete possession of Ger- 
mantown, nothing could have frustrated them of the most 
signal victory. But in this conjuncture, Lieutenant-Colonel 
Musgrave threw himself, with six companies of the fortieth 
regiment, into a large and strong stone house, situated near 
the head of the village, from which he poured upon the as- 
sailants so terrible a fire of musketry that they could advance 
no further The Americans attempted to storm this unex- 
pected covert of the enemy, but those within continued to 
defend themselves with resolution. They finally brought 
cannon up to the assault, but such was the intrepidity of the 
English, and the violence of their fire, that it was found im- 
possible to dislodge them. During this time. General Greene 
had approached the right wing, and routed, after a slight en- 
gagement, the light infantry and Queen's Rangers. After- 
wards, turning a little to his right, and towards Germantown, 
he fell upon the left flank of the enemy's right wing, and en- 
deavoured to enter the village. Meanwhile, he expected 
that the Pennsylvania militia, under Armstrong, upon the 
right, and the militia of Maryland and Jersey, commanded 
by Smallwood and Forman, on the left, would have executed 
the orders of the commander-in-chief, by attacking and 
turning, the first the left flank, and the second the right flank 
of the British army. But either because the obstacles they 
encountered had retarded them, or that they wanted ardour, 
the former arrived in sight of the German chasseurs, and did 
not attack them ; the latter appeared too late upon the field 
of battle. 

" The consequence was, that General Grey, finding his left 
flank secure, marched, with nearly the whole of the left wing, 
to the assistance of the centre, which, notwithstanding the 
unexpected resistance of Colonel Musgrave, was excessively 



352 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 

hard pressed in Germantown, where the Americans gained 
ground incessantly. The battle was now very warm at that 
village, the attack and the defence being equally vigorous. 
The issue appeared for some time dubious. General Agnew 
was mortally wounded, while charging with great bravery at 
the head of the fourth brigade. The American Colonel 
Matthews, of the column of Greene, assailed the English 
with so much fury, that he drove them before him into the 
town. He had taken a large number of prisoners, and was 
about entering the village, when he perceived that a thick 
fog and the unevenness of the ground had caused him to lose 
sight of the rest of his division. Being soon enveloped by 
the extremity of the right wing, which fell back upon him, 
when it had discovered that nothing was to be apprehended 
from the tardy approach of the militia of Maryland and 
Jersey, he was compelled to surrender with all his party ; the 
English had already rescued their prisoners. This check was 
the cause that two regiments of the English right wing were 
enabled to throw themselves into Germantown, and to attack 
the Americans who had entered it in flank. Unable to sustain 
the shock, they retired precipitately, leaving a great number 
of killed and wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Musgrave was 
then relieved from his peril. General Grey, being absolute 
master of Germantown, flew to the succour of the right wing, 
which was engaged with the left of the column of Greene. 
The Americans then took to flight, abandoning to the English, 
throughout the line, a victory of which, in the commencement 
of the action, they had felt assured. 

" The principal causes of the failure of this well-concerted 
enterprise were, the extreme haziness of the weather ; which 
was so thick that the Americans could neither discover the 
situation nor movements of the British army, nor yet those of 
their own ; in the inequality of the ground, which incessantly 
broke the ranks of their battalions ; an inconvenience more 
serious and difficult to be repaired, for new and inexperienced 
troops, as were most of the Americans, than for the English 
veterans ; and, finally, the unexpected resistance of Musgrave, 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 353 

who found means, in a critical moment, to transform a mere 
house into an impregnable fortress. 

Thus fortune, who at first had appeared disposed to favour 
one party, suddenly declared on the side of their adversaries. 
Lord Cornwallis, being at Philadelphia, upon intelligence of 
the attack upon the camp, flew to its succour with a corps of 
cavalry and the grenadiers ; but when he reached the field of 
battle, the Americans had already left it. They had 200 
men killed in this action ; the number of wounded amounted 
to 600, and about 400 were made prisoners. The loss of the 
British was a little over 500, in killed and wounded. The 
American army saved all its artillery, and I'etreated the same 
day about twenty miles, to Perkioming Creek. 

The Congress expressed in decided terms their approbation, 
both of the plan of this enterprise and the courage with which 
it was executed ; for which their thanks were given to the 
general and the army. 

A few days after the battle, the royal army removed from 
Germantown to Philadelphia. The want of provisions w^ould 
not have permitted Howe to follow the enemy into his fast- 
nesses, and he was desirous of co-operating with the naval 
force in opening the navigation of the Delaware. Washing- 
ton, having received a small reinforcement of 1500 militia, 
and k state regiment from Virginia, again advanced a few 
miles towards the English, and encamped once more at Ship- 
pack Creek ! Thus, the British general might have seen that 
he had to grapple with an adversary, who, far from allowing 
liimself to be discouraged by adverse fortune, seemed, on the 
contrary, to gain by it more formidable energies ; who, the 
moment after the defeat, was prepared to resume the offen- 
sive ; and whose firmness and activity were such, that even 
the victories obtained by his adversaries only yielded them 
the effects of defeat.''' 

Our Fabius, posted on the heights of the Schuylkill, re- 
pressed the excursions of the enemy, and cut off their provi- 
sions, with his cavalry and light troops, which caused Ben- 
jamin Franklin very shrewdly to remark: " Philadelphia has 
taken Howe." 

45 ¥&* 



354 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



Here we shall leave Howe for the present, confident that if 
he ventures to come out to do mischief to Pennsylvania, he 
will have Washington hanging to his coat tail, like a huge 
mastiff to a midnight thief. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Thoughts on Saratoga — Campaign of Canada— Arnold joins Sullivan — Ameri- 
cans retire to Crown Point — British Armament on Lake Champiain — Americans 
construct a naval Force — Battle on Lake Champiain — Americans abandon Crown 
Point — Ticonderoga invested — American Forces retreat — Battle of Hubbardstown 
— Americans defeated — Fort Ann taken — Action at Fort Schuyler — Siege of the 
Fort raised — Battle of Bennington — Murder of Miss M'Crea — Battle of Saratoga- 
Surrender of Burgoyne— Individual Sufferings — Treaty with France. 

" Now, yield thee, or, by Hitn who made 
The world, thy heart's blood dyes my blade !" 

" Warrior in battle hour, 
Whence is thy kindling eye — the lip of pride — 
Thy stately tread — when Death roams wide, 

In his withering power ! 
A swift flush softened that stern, dark brow : 
^Tisfor my own free home I am warring now .'" 

In our pilgrimage to the battle-fields of the United States, 
none produced a deeper impression on our mind than that of 
Saratoga ; situated on the Hudson river, eighteen miles above 
Troy, and about the same distance from Saratoga Springs. 
The extensive preparations of the enemy; their sanguine 
hopes ; their league with the Indians ; their dreadful reverses, 
connected with many romantic incidents ; the glorious vic- 
tory of the Americans, and the results it produced in hasten- 
ing our cause to a favourable issue ; all crowd upon the 
mind and sink deep into our souls, as we wander over Bemus's 
Heights. 

But before we proceed in the description of this place of 
terror and of romance, it will be necessary to go back to 
Canada and begin this third part of the grand campaign of 
the British ministers, described in the opening of Chapter 
Seventh. 



1777.] 



REVOLUTION. 



355 



The army of Canada had been strongly reinforced from 
England in the spring of 1776, and preparations were made 
to execute the plan of the ministry by penetrating by the way 
of the lakes to the Hudson river, descending that river, and 
forming a junction with the army of New York at Albany. 
It was supposed, that all inter ourse being thus cut off be- 
tween the New England and the southern provinces, the 
colonists would be terrified into submission and the war 
brought to a close. With the exception of a distance of six- 
teen miles, between Lake George and the left bank of the 
Hudson, the whole passage could be effected by water. 

Near the conclusion of Chapter Fifth, we stated that the 
American army in Canada, being entirely too small to execute 
the object of its expedition, especially after its reduction by 
small-pox, and the reinforcements of the enemy, had been 
obliged to abandon one post after another, until they had en- 
tirely evacuated Canada. After many daring adventures 
and skilful manoeuvres in his retreat, Arnold gained fort St. 
John, where he effected a junction with General Sullivan. 
But this general viewing the position in an unfavourable 
light, dismantled the fortifications, set fire to the magazines 
and barracks, and withdrew under the cannon of Crown 
Point. The whole length of Lake Champlain was thus inter- 
posed between themselves and the enemy, and having a num- 
ber of armed vessels on the lake, the English could not follow 
them without first arming a fleet superior to that of the Ame- 
ricans, as the vessels brought from England could not safely 
be brought into the lake, over the falls of the Sorel, near fort 
Chamblee. Accordingly, General Carleton, Governor of 
Canada, constructed and equipped a fleet of thirty vessels of 
various dimensions, and armed them with artillery. A num- 
ber of flat-bottomed boats and 400 batteaux were also in 
readiness. About the middle of October the armament was 
fully equipped, and the command was given to Captain Prin- 
gle, a sea-officer of great experience. The ship of the admiral, 
called the Inflexible, carried eighteen twelve-pounders ; two 
schooners mounted, one fourteen, the other twelve six-pound- 
ers; a large radeau carried six twenty-four and six twelve- 



356 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 

pounders. Twenty vessels carried each a piece of brass ord- 
nance, from nine to twenty-four-pounders or howitzers. Long- 
boats were equipped in the same manner. Besides these, 
there were a number of boats to serve as transports for the 
troops, baggage, stores, provisions, and arms. 

The American army at this time amounted to between 8000 
and 9000 men, commanded by Generals Schuyler and Gates, 
while Arnold, full of military ardour, infused energy and 
spirit into the soldiers. The army was assembled under the 
cannon of Ticonderoga, having left a garrison at Crown 
Point. 

It was necessary for the Americans to arm and equip a 
fleet before they could oppose the enemy by naval operations. 
Great efforts were promptly made to accomplish this purpose, 
but owing to a want of proper materials and the difficulty 
of procuring carpenters, who were engaged in building pri- 
vateers and ships for Congress, the American generals could 
not produce a squdron of more than fifteen vessels of different 
sizes, two brigs, one corvette, one sloop, three galleys, and 
eight gondolas. Their largest vessels mounted only twelve 
six and four-pounders. The command of this armament was 
given to General Arnold, who it will appear could sustain 
the same reputation upon this new element as upon land. 

General Carleton now advanced towards Crown Point, 
with the intention of attacking the Americans there. He had 
already advanced half-way down the lake when he discovered 
the American squadron, drawn up skilfully behind the little 
island of Valincour and along the passage between the island 
and the western shore of the lake. A tremendous battle en- 
sued, as may be presumed when Arnold was the chief. The 
wind being unfavourable for the enemy, after fighting four 
hours, Captain Pringle gave the signal of retreat. The largest 
brig of the Americans took fire and was burnt in the ac- 
tion, and a gondola sunk. Arnold not thinking it advisable 
to risk another engagement under such fearful odds, deter- 
mined to retreat to Crown Point, but owing to adverse winds, 
he was overtaken by the enemy, when the battle was renewed 
with more fury than the first, and was continued for two 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 357 

hours more. During this action the greater number of Ar- 
nold's vessels crowded sail and escaped to Ticonderoga, while 
only two galleys and five gondolas remained with him. 
Finding that all his desperate efforts were unavailing against 
such a force as that of the enemy, he resorted to an expedi- 
ent that astonished the enemy and elicited the applause of his 
countrymen. To prevent the vessels from falling into the 
hands of the enemy, he ran them ashore and set them on fire. 
The Americans now destroyed all they could at Crown Point 
and retired to Ticonderoga, and Carleton was soon joined by 
his army, intended to operate by land. As the season was 
too much advanced to afford any prospects to reach Albany 
before the commencement of the severity of winter, especially 
as this would not be accomplished without the previous re- 
duction of Ticonderoga, the siege of which, to say the least, 
must be long, difficult and sanguinary, and calculating the 
dangers of having his provisions cut off by the ice in the wa- 
ters in his rear, with many other perils, he conducted his 
army back towards Montreal, in the beginning of November. 

In the spring of 1777, the campaign was again opened. 
General Burgoyne had gone to England the preceding winter, 
to concert with the ministers the means of carrying into 
effect the plan which he submitted to them, for the conquest 
of America. He received the chief command of the army 
of Canada, and returned to Quebec, where he arrived about 
the beginning of May. Great preparations had been made 
in England and in Canada for this grand enterprise, which 
nearly all England expected would succeed. Burgoyne, with 
an army of 7000 troops, of whom about one-half were Eng- 
lish and Germans, and the rest Canadians ; besides an unusu- 
ally powerful train of artillery, and several tribes of Indians, 
which the British government had employed ; left Canada, 
accompanied by able and experienced officers, the principal 
of whom were, Major-General Phillips; Brigadier-Generals 
Frazer, Powell, and Hamilton, with the Brunswick major- 
general. Baron Reidesel, and Brigadier-General Specht, and 
on the 1st of July landed and invested Ticonderoga. 

The garrison at Ticonderoga at this time consisted of only 



r. 



358 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



about 3000 men, commanded by General St. Clair. Too 
feeble to defend such extensive works, and at the same time 
to fortify Mount Defiance, which overlooks and commands 
the fort, the latter was unprotected. The enemy examined 
it, and, with great labour and difficulty, commenced establish- 
ing their artillery upon the summit. Nearly surrounded by 
the enemy, and convinced that he must surrender at discre- 
tion, if he remained until the completion of the batteries, St. 
Clair called a council of war, where it was resolved to evacu- 
ate the place without delay. To this conclusion they came 
the more readily, because they knew that General Schuyler, 
who had the command of the army of the north, was at fort 
Edward, and had not force enough to defend himself. 

In the night of the 5th of July the retreat was commenced, 
in profound silence ; but a house taking fire, the light attracted 
the attention of the enemy, and they discovered what had 
taken place. General Frazer, with a strong detachment, was 
sent in pursuit, and overtaking the rear of the Americans, on 
the morning of the 7th, at Hubbardston, twenty-four miles 
from the fort, a long and sanguinary battle was fought. The 
enemy at last began to fall back in disorder, when General 
Reidesel arrived with reinforcements, and took part in the 
action. Overpowered by numbers, the Americans fled in 
every direction, leaving many of their officers, and upwards 
of 200 soldiers dead on the field. About 600 were wounded, 
many of whom perished miserably in the woods. The loss 
of the enemy in killed and wounded was 180. General St. 
Clair proceeded by a circuitous route to fort Edward, where 
he joined General Schuyler. The English generals now di- 
rected their attention to fort Ann, to which some of the Ame- 
ricans had fled, in their retreat from Ticonderoga. Colonel 
Hill was despatched to drive them away. Colonel Long, who 
commanded the fort, sallied out to meet him, and a bloody 
conflict took place. After the combat had raged for two 
hours, and victory was still doubtful, the horrible yells of the 
savages were heard ; and another reinforcement approaching, 
the Americans retreated to the fort, set it on fire, and retired 
to fort Edward, on the Hudson, only six miles distant. Bur- 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 359 



goyne, with the main army, was still at Skeenesborough, 
about to plunge into the fearful solitudes of an almost impe- 
netrable forest, on his way to fort Edward. Another column 
he ordered to embark at the same time at Ticonderoga, pro- 
ceed up lake George, reduce the fort of the same name, and 
join him at fort Edward. 

Meanwhile, General Schuyler, whose army at fort Edward 
did not exceed 4000 men, made almost incredible exertions to 
impede the progress of the enemy through the wilderness 
from fort Ann, by throwing every obstacle in their way. The 
ground between these two forts is exceedingly rough and 
difficult, full of creeks, as well as wide and deep morasses. 
The American general opened trenches, obstructed the roads, 
broke down the bridges, cut trees across and lengthwise into 
the narrow defiles, so as to render a speedy arrival of the 
enemy on the Hudson impossible. This, he knew, would 
afford the Americans time to receive reinforcements, and be 
better prepared for defence. 

The loss of the American forts, constituting the keys to 
the States ; the loss of 128 pieces of artillery, with immense 
quantities of warlike stores, baggage and provisions, not only 
had an injurious effect on the morale of the army, but re- 
tarded the enlistment of others. The reputation of the offi- 
cers was assailed. The most ridiculous stories were circu- 
lated of St. Clair ; and even General Schuyler did not escape 
the venom of detraction and of slander, after all his patriotic 
services and incessant toils ; 

"And sterner hearts alone can feel 
The wound that time can never heal." 

When the news of Burgoyne's success in taking the forts 
reached England, the ministers, the government, and the 
people became almost frantic with joy, confident of the speedy 
success of their arms, in bringing the audacious j^ebels to the 
foot of the British throne. 

After the most Herculean exertions, Burgoyne arrived at 
fort Edward, on the 30th of July. For this delay, so bene- 
ficial to our cause, let us drop a laurel wreath on the tomb of 



360 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



Schuyler. This the reader will the more readily grant to 
his memory at the end of the campaign. 

General Schuyler, still unwilling to risk his army by de- 
fending fort Edward, retired four miles down the river, and 
entrenched himself; and becoming apprehensive that Colonel 
St. Leger, who, after the reduction of fort Stanwix, against 
which he had been sent, might descend the left bank of the 
Mohawk, and cut off his retreat, he moved lower down the 
Hudson, where he threw up entrenchments on Van Shaick's 
island, formed by the mouths of the Mohawk. At the same 
time, the Americans retired from fort George, after burning 
their vessels upon the lake, to prevent them from falling into 
the enemy's hands. 

The two generals were now incessantly employed — the one 
in increasing the number of his soldiers, the other in feeding 
those he brought from Canada. Every possible effort was 
made to increase the northern army, not only by Schuyler, 
but also by Congress and by Washington, General Lincoln 
was sent to New England to persuade the militia to enlist in 
the defence of their country. Arnold was sent to the army 
io fight — emphatically to fight. He was a terrible fellow, and 
no traitor yet ; consequently we can do him justice with a 
better grace. Colonel Morgan, with his troop of light horse, 
was also ordered to repair to the Hudson. The army was 
thus daily increasing. On the other hand, Burgoyne, who 
was still at fort Edward, finding himself in a hostile country, 
where he could obtain no provisions, except from the lakes, 
began to lose some of the exultation he felt on his arrival on 
the Hudson. The roads from fort George, a distance of 
eighteen miles, were in some parts steep, and in others in bad 
repair. Horses and oxen were employed to drag provisions, 
ammunition, and batteaux to the army ; and among the mili- 
tary stores, were uniforms for those Americans who should join 
the British army. 

With the most indefatigable perseverance, they could only 
supply the army with provisions for immediate use, without 
being able to lay up a store which would enable them to pro- 
ceed further from the source of their subsistence. 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 361 



But, before we follow Burgoyne any further in his unex- 
pected embarrassments, we must give some attention to the 
proceedings at fort Stanwix, sometimes called fort Schuyler. 
On the 3d of August, Colonel St. Leger, with 800 English, 
Germans, Canadians, and American loyalists, followed by a 
number of savages, had invested this fort, which was defended 
by Colonels Gansavort and Willet, with 700 men. General 
Herkimer assembled a number of militia, and marched to the 
relief of the fort. When within six miles of the fort, he sent 
an express to inform Gansavort that he would attempt to join 
his garrison. A successful sally was made from the fort by 
Willet to favour the enterprise. Herkimer advanced incau- 
tiously, without a reconnoitering party in front, or rangers 
upon his flank, and fell into an ambuscade formed by Sir John 
Johnson, with a party of regulars and Indians, who had con- 
cealed themselves in the woods. No sooner had the Ameri- 
cans passed, than the savages, with fiendish yell, fell upon 
their rear like enraged wild beasts. The woods resounded 
with the dreadful din of arms, and a horrible slaughter of 
those who resisted, and those who surrendered, disgraced the 
nation who employed these savage auxiliaries, always thirsting 
for blood and carnage. The Americans, though surprised, and 
somewhat dismayed, after keeping up a running fight for some 
time, formed themselves into a solid column on advantageous 
ground, and 'opposed their rifles and bayonets to the hatchet 
and spear of the savage. The enemy now hearing of the 
attack made upon their camp by Colonel Willet, retired to 
aid in its defence. The Americans lost 400 men, among whom 
was General Herkimer. The Indians lost sixty, in killed and 
wounded, among whom were several of their principal chiefs 
and favourite warriors. 

Willet entered the camp of the enemy during the absence 

of this detachment, and after killing a great number, and 

driving the rest into the woods, he carried oflT many spoils, 

and raised a trophy under the American flag, floating over 

the wooden fort. After the defeat of Herkimer, Willet and 

another officer, Stockwell,(let his name be known,) undertook 

a most daring enterprise. They penetrated through the camp 
_ _ 



362 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



of the enemy, eluding their vigilance, and travelled through a 
wilderness, a distance of fifty miles, to bring relief to the fort. 

Meanwhile, St. Leger sent messages to Gansavort, demand- 
ing a surrender, promising to treat him according to the rules 
of civilized nations, if he submitted immediately, but made 
the most brutal threats as to what would be done by the In- 
dians in case he refused. 

The American officer replied like a man. He said he was 
intrusted with the charge of that garrison by the United 
States ; that he should defend it at all hazards ; and that he 
neither thought himself accountable for, nor should he at all 
concern himself about any consequences that attended the dis- 
charge of his duty. 

A fearful retribution now appeared to threaten the British 
commander : the savages, who had lost many of their favour- 
ites, and who felt themselves disappointed in obtaining plun- 
der, not only became sullen and ungovernable in a military 
point of view, but threatened to fall upon their employers, 
and rob their camp. 

General Schuyler, upon receiving intelligence that this fort 
was besieged, despatched Arnold to its relief. Full of fire 
and energy, as usual, he hastened by forced marches towards 
his destination. The Indians, hearing of his approach, were 
terrified and dismayed at the name of Arnold. As they had 
already been dissatisfied with their alliance, they were now 
soon ready to abandon the camp. Some actually decamped, 
while the rest threatened to do the same if St. Leger did not 
retreat. The siege was raised on the 22d of August, and the 
enemy retreated. The Americans sallied from the fort and 
attacked their rear, and took their tents, artillery and stores. 
But their savage allies now became their worst enemies. 
They robbed the officers and the soldiers of their baggage, 
and killed many of those soldiers who could not keep up 
with the rest, until all was terror and confusion among the 
British troops. The inconceivable horrors produced by such 
a situation, is a fit subject for those American politicians to 
contemplate, who would form political alliances of any kind 
with those who have no feelings in common with themselves. 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 363 



Such politicians we have, and it is the duty of the people to 
dispense with the services of such pseudo-patriots, who seek 
only their own advancement. 

Two days after the siege was raised, Arnold arrived at the 
fort, and was received by the garrison as their deliverer. 
His services not being required now, he returned to the army 
at Van Shaick's Island. St. Leger retreated to Montreal, 
and afterwards joined Burgoyne by the way of Ticonderoga. 

Unable to proceed without provisions, Burgoyne resolved 
to make an attack on Bennington, about twenty miles from 
the left side of the Hudson, where the Americans had large 
supplies of cattle, provisions, and stores, which they had 
received fi*om the New England provinces. The German 
Colonel Baum was despatched with about 600 men, including 
200 of Reidesel's dismounted dragoons and 100 savages. 

To facilitate this enterprise, Burgoyne moved down the 
left side of the Hudson, and establishing his camp nearly 
opposite Saratoga, he threw a bridge of rafts across the 
river. The object of this was to hold the American army in 
check, by exciting a belief that they were on the point of 
being attacked. Colonel Stark, who was on his march to 
join General Schuyler with 1000 militia, hearing of the ap- 
proach of Baum, altered his course and hastened towards 
Bennington, where he joined Colonel Warner, at the head of 
about the same number of militia. Baum, considering Stark 
too strong to be attacked, entrenched himself near Santcroick 
Mills, on the Walloon Creek, four miles from Bennington, and 
sent for Colonel Breyman, posted on Batten Kill, to join him. 
But Stark issued out from Bennington on the morning of the 
16th of August, and attacked Baum in his entrenchments, 
with a firm resolve " to conquer or make Molly Stark a 
_widow." The savages, British, and Canadians, soon fled into 
the woods, while the Germans fought vigorously until their 
ammunition was expended, when they made use of their 
swords. They were overwhelmed and made prisoners with 
their wounded commander. 

Breyman now arrived, at four o'clock, and renewed the fight, 
which was continued until dusk, when the enemy retreated. 



364 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



with great precipitation, and left baggage, muskets, artillery, 
and sabres in the power of the conqueror. The royalists lost 
in these two battles, about 200 killed, and 500 prisoners. 
The loss of the Americans was inconsiderable. Stark received 
the thanks of Congress and was made a brigadier-general. 
Colonel Warner, who seconded Stark, deserves great praise 
for his gallant conduct. 

This was the first check the enemy received in this cam- 
paign, (the retreat at fort Stanwix taking place a few days 
later,) and it was a grievous one, as it placed them in a very 
critical situation, while the American army was daily in- 
creasing in strength and spirits. 

On the 4th of August, when the affairs of the north yet 
wore a gloomy aspect. Congress had appointed General Gates 
commander of the army, in place of Schuyler, and, on the 
21st, he arrived at Stillwater. Gates was a popular man, 
and it was supposed his name alone would have a beneficial 
influence. Schuyler complained bitterly to Washington; 
stating that the fruit of his toils was given to another, who 
was about to enjoy that victory for which he had prepared 
the way. Though superseded, Schuyler exerted his powers 
in defence of his country, exhibiting a zeal and patriotism 
worthy of all praise, at a period when his own injuries were 
severely felt. 

The popularity of Gates in New England, had the effect 
which Congress anticipated and desired. The people enlisted 
with more alacrity and the northern army was rapidly 
increasing. 

This enthusiasm of the people, however, is partly to be 
ascribed to their natural love of liberty, and the shocking 
outrages committed by the savages under Burgoyne and St. 
Leger. These savages prowled in the night like wild beasts 
— visited the houses — dragged out the inhabitants, and mur- 
dered men, women, and children in a most barbarous manner, 
whether they were loyalists or republicans. Among these 
victims was Miss Jane M'Crea, a young lady distinguished 
for her virtues, her beauty, and her amiable disposition ; of a 
highly respectable family, and affianced to an officer then in 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 365 

Burgoyne's army. The murder of this lady has been the 
theme of the poet, the novelist, and the orator, and her affect- 
ing story made a deep impression upon the minds of the 
American people. 

" Two Mohawks met the maid — historian, hold ! — 

Poor human nature ! must thy shame be told 1 

****** 

She starts ; with eyes upturn'd and fleeting breath, 

In their raised axes views her instant death. 

Spreads her white hands to heaven in frantic prayer, 

Then runs to grasp their knees, and crouches there. 

Her hair, half-lost along the shrubs she pass'd, 

Rolls in loose tangles round her lovely waist; 

Her kerchief, torn, betrays the globes of snow 

That heave responsive to her weight of woe. 

****** 

With calculating pause and demon grin, 

They seize her hands, and, through her face divine, 

Drive the descending axe 5" * * * 

The story of Miss M'Crea has been told vvith various em- 
bellishments, sometimes so improbable as to be unworthy of 
credit. The plain facts in the case appear to be as follows : 
When the American army retreated from fort Edward, this 
young lady and the family with whom she lived remained in 
the vicinity of this fort. The Indians, on their arrival, made 
her prisoner, and on their return to Burgoyne's camp they 
halted at a spring, where a quarrel arose as to whom the 
captive belonged. " To put an end to the dispute," says Ge- 
neral Wilkinson, " a monster tomahawked her, and thus she 
fell a victim to the ferocious brutality of the Indians." 

The following account from the Port Folio is generally ad- 
mitted to be one of the best. We would, however, take 
leave to premise that one part of this description appears to 
be inconsistent with itself, and another highly improbable. 
1. The account of the nine wounds made with the " knife or 
tomahawk" does not accord with the assertion that " she was 
shot," and that " she instantly fell and expired." 2. It is not 
probable that Jones would send a letter by the savages re- 
questing his intended to put herself under their charge. I 
■ — — 



366 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



am not now appealing to ill-tempered old bachelors, but to 
young lovers who intend to pop the question the next time, (if 
their courage does not fail.) I would ask you, who are the 
best judges, would you send savages to protect the lady you 
loved, and ask any one of them to act as your proxy? — If 
not, how can you believe that Jones would do so ? There is 
but one ground upon which we can give any credit to this 
part of the story : if the Indians were sent in the direction 
of the lady's residence by some superior officer, over whom 
Jones had no control, he might have adopted this method, at 
the same time offering a bribe to the savages to protect her 
from the indiscriminate murder of which they were usually 
guilty, and to lead her to his post, which he was not allowed 
to abandon. If this be true, it should be distinctly men- 
tioned, to remove the otherwise unnatural features of the 
tale. The other parts of this description I believe to be cor- 
rect. We said it is from the Port Folio; this paper, how- 
ever, credits it to Jared Sparks' Life and Treason of Arnold. 

The Murder of Miss MCrea. 

" The murder of Miss M'Crea has been a theme, which 
eloquence and sensibility have alike contributed to dignify, 
and which has kindled in many a breast the emotions of a 
responsive sympathy. General Gates' description, in his let- 
ter to Burgoyne, although more ornate than forcible, and 
abounding more in bad taste than simplicity or pathos, was 
suited to the feelings of the moment, and produced a lively 
impression in every part of America ; and the glowing lan- 
guage of Burke, in one of his most celebrated speeches in the 
British Parliament, made the story of Jane M'Crea familiar 
to the European world. 

" This young lady was the daughter of a clergyman, who 
died in New Jersey before the revolution. Upon her father's 
death she sought a home in the house of her brother, a re- 
spectable gentleman residing on the western bank of the 
Hudson river, about four miles below Fort Edward. Here 
she formed an intimacy with a young man named David 
Jones, to whom it was understood she was engaged to be 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 367 

married. When the war broke out, Jones took the side of 
the royalists, went to Canada, received a commission, and 
was a captain or lieutenant among the provincials in Bur- 
goyne's army. 

'* Fort Edward was situated on the eastern margin of the 
Hudson river, within a few yards of the water, and sur- 
rounded by a plane of considerable extent, which was cleared 
of wood and cultivated. On the road leading to the north, 
and near the foot of the hill, about one-third of a mile from 
the fort, stood a house occupied by Mrs. M'Neil, a widow 
lady and an acquaintance of Miss M'Crea, with whom she 
was staying as a visiter at the time the American army was 
in that neighbourhood. The side of the hill was covered 
with a growth of bushes, and on its top, a quarter of a mile 
from the house, stood a large pine tree, near the root of which 
gushed out a perennial spring of water. A guard of one 
hundred men had been left at the fort, and a picket under 
Lieutenant Van Vechten was stationed in the woods on the 
hill a little beyond the pine tree. 

" Early one morning, this picket-guard was attacked by a 
party of Indians, rushing through the woods from different 
points at the same moment, and rending the air with hideous 
yells. Lieutenant Van Vechten and five others were killed 
and scalped, and four were wounded. Samuel Standish, one 
of the guard, whose post m as near the pine tree, discharged 
his musket at the first Indian he saw, and ran down the hill 
towards the fort ; but he had no sooner reached the plain, 
than three Indians, who had pursued him to cut off his retreat, 
darted out of the bushes, fired, and wounded him in the foot. 
One of them sprang upon him, threw him to the ground, 
pinioned his arms, and then pushed him violently forward up 
the hill. He naturally made as much haste as he could, and 
in a short time they came to the spring, where several Indians 
were assembled. 

" Here Standish was left to himself, at a little distance from 
the spring and the pine tree, expecting every moment to share 
the fate of his comrades, whose scalps were conspicuously 
displayed. A few minutes only had elapsed, when he saw a 



368 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



small party of Indians ascending the hill, and with them Mrs. 
M'Niel and Miss M'Crea on foot. He knew them both, having 
often been at Mrs. M'Niel's house. The party had hardly 
joined the other Indians, when he perceived much agitation 
among them, high words, and violent gestures, till at length 
they engaged in a furious quarrel, and beat one another with 
their muskets. In the midst of this fray, one of the chiefs, 
apparently in a paroxysm of rage, shot Miss M'Crea in the 
breast. She instantly fell and expired. Her hair was long 
and flowing. The same chief grasped it in his hand, seized 
his knife, and took off the scalp in such a manner as to include 
nearly the whole of the hair ; then springing from the ground, 
he tossed it in the face of a young warrior, who stood near 
him watching the operation, brandished it in the air, and 
uttered a yell of savage exultation. When this was done 
the quarrel ceased ; and, as the fort had already been alarmed, 
the Indians hurried away as quickly as possible to General 
Frazer's encampment, on the road to fort Ann, taking with 
them Mrs. M'Niel and Samuel Standish. 

" The bodies of the slain were found by a party that went 
in pursuit, and were carried across the river. They had been 
stripped of their clothing, and the body of Miss M'Crea was 
wounded in nine places, either by a scalping-knife or a toma- 
hawk. A messenger was despatched to convey the afflicting 
intelligence to her brother, who arrived soon afterwards, took 
charge of his sister's remains, and had them interred on the 
east side of the river, about three miles below the fort. The 
body of Lieutenant Van Vechten was buried at the same 
time, and on the same spot. 

" History has preserved no facts by which we can, at this 
day, ascertain the reason why Miss M'Crea should remain 
as she did, in so exposed and unprotected a situation. She 
had been reminded of her danger by the people at the fort. 
Tradition relates, however, and with seeming truth, that 
through some medium of communication she had promised 
her lover, probably by his advice, to remain in this place, 
until the approach of the British troops should afford her an 
opportunity to join him, in company with herhostess and friend. 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 369 



It is said that, when they saw the Indians coming to the 
house, they were at first frightened, and attempted to escape ; 
but, as the Indians made signs of a pacific intention, and one 
of them held up a letter, intimating that it was to be opened, 
their fears were calmed, and the letter was read. It was 
from Jones, and contained a request that they would put 
themselves under the charge of the Indians, whom he had 
sent for the purpose, and who would guard them in safety to 
the British camp. Unfortunately, two separate parties of 
Indians, or at least two chiefs, acting independently of each 
other, had united in this enterprise, combining with it an 
attack on the picket-guard. It is incredible that Jones should 
have known this part of the arrangement, or he would have 
foreseen the danger it threatened. When the prize was in 
their hands, the two chiefs quarrelled about the mode of di- 
viding the reward they were to receive ; and, according to 
the Indian rule of settling disputes in the case of captives, 
one of them, in a wild fit of passion, killed the victim and 
secured the scalp. Nor is it the least shocking feature of the 
transaction, that the savage seemed not aware of the nature 
of his mission. Uninformed as to the motive of his employer 
for obtaining the person of the lady, or not comprehending it, 
he regarded her in the light of a prisoner, and supposed the 
scalp would be an acceptable trophy. Let it be imagined 
what were the feelings of the anxious lover, waiting with 
joyful anticipation the arrival of his intended bride, when 
this appalling proof of her death was presented to him. The 
innocent had suffered by the hand of cruelty and violence, 
which he had unconsciously armed ; his most fondly cherished 
hopes were blasted, and a sting was planted in his soul, which 
time and forgetfulness could never eradicate. His spirit was 
scathed, and his heart broken. He lived but a few years, a 
prey to his sad recollections, and sunk into the grave under 
the burden of his grief. 

" The remembrance of this melancholy tale is still che- 
rished with a lively sympathy by the people who dwell near 
the scene of its principal incidents. The inhabitants of the 

village at fort Edward have lately removed the remains of 

_ 



370 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



Miss M'Crea from their obscure resting-place, and deposited 
them in the public burial-ground. The ceremony was 
solemn and impressive : a procession of young men and 
maidens followed the relics, and wept in silence when the 
earth was again closed over them ; thus exhibiting an honour- 
able proof of sensibility and respect for the dead. The little 
fountain still pours its clear waters hear the brow of the hill, 
and the venerable pine is yet standing in its ancient majesty, 
broken at the top and shorn of its branches by the winds and 
storms of half a century, but revered as marking the spot 
where youth and innocence were sacrificed in the tragical 
death of Jane M'Crea." 

We now return to the two armies. One is on the left bank 
of the Hudson opposite Saratoga — the other on the island 
formed by a division of the Mohawk at its confluence with 
the Hudson. 

We shall now attempt to give a sketch of the battle-ground, 
situated between the present encampments of the armies. 

We always consider it in bad taste to speak of our own 
travels and observations, in a work like this, but by following 
the course of our journey, we can give the reader a better 
idea of places, than by any other method ; and at the same 
time remove the confusion into which we were at first led, 
by the fact, that there is now a new Saratoga, and the old 
village of that name has been changed to Schuylerville. 
Stillwater, Bemus's Heights, and the plan of the present Ame- 
rican encampment, are often spoken of indiscriminately, until 
the reader tortures his imagination in vain to give the battle- 
ground a local habitation and a name. 

After visiting Saratoga springs, by the way of Schenec- 
tady, we returned to Troy and Albany by way of the Hud- 
son river, that we might pass the battle-ground of Saratoga. 
Leaving the springs, we travelled in a private conveyance a 
distance of twelve miles, to old Saratoga, or Schuylerville, 
situated on the Hudson. At this place, as we shall see here- 
after, Burgoyne surrendered; but the battle-field is about 
eight miles lower down the river. We got into a canal-boat 
and crept down the river with the speed of three miles an 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 371 

hour, until opposite Bemus's Heights, where the entrench- 
ments of the two armies can still be seen. The ground near 
the river is level, but several hundred yards off it rises ab- 
ruptly into lofty heights, which at first are cut in various 
directions by such deep ravines, that it is exceedingly diffi- 
cult to descend on the one side, and clamber up on the other. 
We experienced this, by wandering about these dreary 
abodes, in search of the old redoubts and the skirmishing 
grounds, celebrated in history. After climbing the steep hills 
near the river — wading through low marshy places — thread- 
ing our way through a wilderness, over stumps of trees, logs, 
and stones — over, or rather through ditches, deep and wide ; 
over, or through rivulets, according to their width, we at last 
inquired our way to " Freeman's Farm," on which we still 
see the British entrenchments. From this we proceeded to 
the hospitable abode of Mr. Joseph Walker, whose house is 
situated between the entrenchments of the two armies. One 
battle was fought in front of his house, and another near one 
end of it. 

Here the old gentleman sits at the front door, which is 
kept open by a cannon-hall, a relic of the revolution. One 
of his children comes with his relics, (for every family resid- 
ing on these battle-grounds, and sometimes every member of 
it, has a budget — as bones, skulls, cannon-balls, grape-shot, 
musket-balls, fragments of swords, regimental buttons, &c.) 
among which were some gold and silver coins, which were 
found with a skeleton while digging for skulls, to supply a 
phrenologist who had visited the place for that purpose. Mr. 
Walker says that the skeletons of a great number of men are 
so near the surface of the ground, in several places in the 
vicinity of his house, that the land is not now cultivated, 
because the plough would turn up a great number of human 
bones. The old gentleman has a book in which we were 
requested to record our name, which is there in good company, 
as w^e find the names of some of the most illustrious men 
from this country and from Europe in it. The next morning 
we visited the spot where Frazer fell mortally wounded, and 
from which he was taken to head-quarters on the Hudson, 



372 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



two miles distant, where he died. This house stood until 
about a year ago, when all was taken down except the chim- 
ney. But we get in advance of our history ; we are describ- 
ing the relics of a battle before we give the battle itself — the 
skeletons of men before we tell how they became such. 

We shall now return to the American army, moving up 
the river again to the ground of which we have just been 
speaking. But having traced the progress of this great cam- 
paign to this very interesting place, we shall lay before the 
reader the battle-scenes as we find them described in the 
" Memoirs of General Wilkinson," who was one of the actors. 
We select such parts as appear the most interesting. 

" The American army, about 6000 strong, began to retrace 
its steps towards the enemy on the 8th of September, and 
reached Stillwater the next. The march was made in good 
order, and the character of the corps seemed renovated; 
courage and confidence having taken place of timidity and 
distrust. The ground at this place was again examined, a 
line for entrenchments traced, a fatigue of 1000 men put to 
work under Colonel Kosciusko, and the following order was 
issued on the 10th : — ' Whether it may be immediately ne- 
cessary to engage the enemy on this ground, or push them 
into Canada, the General has the firmest opinion that both 
officers and soldiers will be ready, at a moment's notice, to 
execute his commands.' But in the progress of the work it 
was discovered that the low grounds were too extensive to 
permit the occupancy of the heights on our left, without 
weakening our centre, and that by adopting the alternative, 
we should be exposed either to be forced or flanked : the po- 
sition was therefore condemned as untenable, before a differ- 
ent one had been selected. It happened that I had, on the 
retreat of the army, taken notice of a narrow defile, two or 
three miles in our front, formed by a spur of the hills, jutting 
out close to the river. I communicated the circumstance to 
the General, and the ground was reconnoitred and approved ; 
and on the 12th the army took possession of Bemus's Heights, 
destined to become the theatre of those hard-fought actions, 
which were to decide the fate of the campaign. 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 373 

" The General had received no information of the situation 
of the enemy, subsequent to the visit of Doctor Wood, at 
which time Burgoyne occupied Duer's house, at old fort 
Miller, his elite at Batten-kiln, opposite to Saratoga ; in fact, 
he knew not whether they were advancing, retreating, or 
stationary. This circumstance was embarrassing : parties of 
the riflemen had been tried ; but being strangers to the topo- 
graphy of the country, they were at a loss for direction and 
made no discovery. Having passed frequently between fort 
Edward and Albany, and paid strict attention to the locali- 
ties of the route, I believed that I could conduct a recon- 
noitring party with effect, and proposed it to the General, 
who approved my purpose, and accordingly, after night-fall 
the same day, I marched with 150 infantry and 20 select 
riflemen, under that incomparable subaltern, Lieutenant John 
Hardin. 

" Under cover of a dark night, I advanced directly for Sa- 
ratoga, and a little before day-break I reached the summit of 
a lofty height, about two miles from that place, called Davo- 
cote. During a momentary pause to take breath, I heard the 
generate beat some distance in my front, which indicated a 
military movement : I therefore halted, and having formed 
my party in a wood on the flanks of the road, detached Lieu- 
tenant Hardin with his riflemen to my right, by the low 
grounds on the side of the river, to make observations, and 
with an officer and three men, I proceeded under cover of the 
wood on the heights, to the right bank of the Fishkill, (or 
creek,) in the vicinity of Saratoga church. It was now broad 
daylight : I posted my men to keep a look-out towards the 
road on my right, and advancing cautiously, I discovered, 
within three hundred yards of me, on the opposite bank of 
the creek, a body of men drawn up under arms. At this 
moment I heard the march beat, and casting my eyes towards 
the river, I perceived a column of the enemy, descending fiom 
the heights below Batten-kill. These observations satisfied 
me General Burgoyne was advancing, and I rejoined my 
scout, who informed me that two of the enemy's infantry were 
robbing a garden under the hill. We immediately made these 



374 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



men prisoners, and marched back with them to the detach- 
ment at the heights of Davocote, where I found Hardin, who 
I had made no discovery, and we returned to camp about noon. 

" By these prisoners, General Gates was informed of General 
Burgoyne's intentions : that chief, after immense labour and 
unavoidable delays, had at length brought forward from lake 
George to the Hudson river, his baggage, artillery, military 
stores, and a month's provisions, with a sufficiency of live 
stock, and land and water transport, to move the whole ; and 
thus equipped, he concentrated his force, abandoned the com- 
munication with the lakes, which his numbers could not 
sustain, and crossed the river to prosecute his march to 
Albany, agreeably to his instructions. Our labours on the 
fortifications of our camp were redoubled in consequence of 
this advice, and calls for militia were transmitted to all quar- 
ters ; the greater number of General Burgoyne's Indians had 
long before deserted him, and the few who remained had lost 
their spirit of enterprise : this circumstance gave our riflemen 
so decided a superiority, that on his approach, he could not 
make a motion without our knowledge, nor peep beyond his 
guards with safety. The condition of the two armies was 
precisely reversed ; and the Americans now enjoyed, in the 
rifle corps, all the advantages which the enemy had derived 
from a cloud of barbarians at the opening of the campaign. 

" General Burgoyne crossed the Hudson river the 13th 
and 14th of September, and advanced with great circum- 
spection, on the 15th, from Saratoga to Davocote, where he 
halted to repair bridges in his front. The 16th was em- 
ployed on this labour, and in reconnoitring ; on the 17th he 
advanced a mile or two, resumed his march on the 18th, 
and General Arnold was detached by General Gates, with 
1500 men, to harass him ; but after a light skirmish he re- 
turned without loss, or efl^ecting anything more than picking 
up a few stragglers ; and the enemy moved forward and en- 
camped, in two lines, about two miles from General Gates; 
his left on the river, and his right extending, at right angles 
to it, across the low grounds about 600 yards, to a range of 
steep and lofty heights, occupied by his elite, having a creek 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 375 

or gulley in front, made by a rivulet which issued from a 
great ravine formed by the hills, which ran in a direction 
nearly parallel to the river, until within half a mile of the 
American camp. 

" General Gates's right occupied the brow of the hill near 
the river, with which it was connected by a deep entrench- 
ment ; his camp, in the form of a segment of a great circle, 
the convex towards the enemy, extended rather obliquely to 
his rear, about three-fourths of a mile, to a knoll occupied by 
his left ; his front was covered, from the right to the left of 
the centre, by a sharp ravine running parallel with his line 
and closely wooded ; from thence to the knoll at his extreme 
left, the ground was level and had been partially cleared, 
some of the trees being felled and others girdled, beyond 
which, in front of his left flank, and extending to the enemy's 
right, there were several small fields in very imperfect culti- 
vation, the surface broken and obstructed with stumps and 
fallen timber, and the whole bounded, on the west, by a steep 
eminence. 

" The extremities of this camp were defended by strong 
batteries, and the interval was strengthened by a breastwork 
without entrenchments, constructed of the bodies of felled 
trees, logs, and rails, with an additional battery at an opening 
left of the centre. The right was almost impracticable ; the 
left difficult of approach. I describe the defences of this 
position as they appeared about the 14th of October. 

" The intermediate space between the adverse armies on the 
low grounds of the river, was open and in cultivation ; the 
high land was clothed in its native woods, with the exception 
of three or four small, newly opened, and deserted farms, 
separated by intervals of woodland, and bordering on the 
flanks of the two armies most remote from the river; the 
principal of these was an oblong field, belonging to a person 
of the name of Freeman; there was also, exclusive of the 
ravines fronting the respective camps, a third ravine, about 
midway between them, running at right angles to the river. 
The intervening forest rendered it utterly impracticable to 
obtain a front view of the American position, or any part of 



376 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 

the British except its left near the river. On the 18th, Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Colburn, of the New Hampshire line, was 
detached to the east side of the river, with a light party, to 
observe the movements of the enemy, by climbing forest trees 
or other practicable means, with orders to report such obser- 
vations as he might consider worthy of notice. 

"About eight o'clock on the morning of the 17tli September, 
I received information from Colonel Colburn, that the enemy 
had struck the chief part of their tents on the plain near the 
river, had crossed the gulley at the gorge of the great ravine, 
and were ascending the heights in a direction towards our 
left. On making this communication to the general, he 
immediately ordered Colonel Morgan to advance with his 
corps, who was instructed, should he find the enemy ap- 
proaching, to hang on their front and flanks, to retard their 
march, and cripple them as much as possible. 

"About half-past twelve o'clock, a report of small-arms 
announced Morgan's corps to be engaged in front of our left ; 
the general, with his suite, was at this time examining the 
battery which had been commenced on our left ; I asked leave 
to repair to the scene of action, but was refused, with this 
observation, ' It is your duty, sir, to wait my orders.' This 
firing was of short duration, but was soon recommenced with 
redoubled vigour : I then made an excuse to visit the picket 
on the left for intelligence, put spurs to my horse, and, directed 
by the sound, had entered the wood about a hundred rods, 
when the fire suddenly ceased : I, however, pursued my Course, 
and the first officer I fell in with was Major Dearborn, who, 
with great animation and not a little warmth, was forming 
thirty or forty file of his infantry; I exchanged a few words with 
him, passed on and met Major Morris, alone, who was never 
so sprightly as under a hot fire ; from him I learned that the 
corps was advancing by files in two lines, when they unex- 
pectedly fell upon a picket of the enemy, which they almost 
instantly forced, and, pursuing the fugitives, their front had 
as unexpectedly fallen in with the British line ; that several 
officers and men had been made prisoners, and that, to save 
himself, he had been obliged to push his horse through the 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 377 

ranks of the enemy, and escaped by a circuitous route. To 
show me where the action commenced, he leaped a fence into 
the abandoned field of Freeman, choked up with weeds, and 
led me to the cabin, which had been occupied by the British 
picket, but was then almost encircled with dead ; he then 
cautioned me to keep a look-out for the enemy, who, he 
observed, could not be far from us ; and as I never admired 
exposition from which neither advantage nor honour could be 
derived, I crossed the angle of the field, leaped the fence, and 
just before me, on a ridge, I discovered Lieutenant-Colonel 
.Butler with three men, all treed; from him I learned that 
they had ' caught a Scotch prize ;' that, having forced the 
picket, they had closed with the British line, had been 
instantly routed, and, from the suddenness of the shock and 
the nature of the ground, were broken and scattered in all 
directions ; he repeated Morris's caution to me, and remarked 
that the enemy's sharp-shooters were on the opposite side of 
the ravine, and that, being on horseback, I should attract a 
shot. We changed our position, and the Colonel inquired 
what were Morgan's orders, and informed me that he had 
seen a heavy column moving towards our left. I then turned 
about to regain the camp, and report to the General, when 
my ears were saluted by an uncommon noise, Mhich I 
approached, and perceived Colonel Morgan, attended by two 
men only, who, with a turkey-call, (an instrument made for 
decoying the wild turkey.) was collecting his dispersed troops. 
[A very appropriate instrument, if his men were treed. ^ The 
moment I came up to him, he burst into tears, and exclaimed, 
' I am ruined, by G — d ! Major Morris ran on so rapidly 
with the front, that they were beaten before I could get up 
witb the rear, and my men are scattered God knows where.' 
I remarked to the Colonel, that he had a long day before him 
to retrieve an inauspicious beginning, and informed him where 
I had seen his field-oflicers, which appeared to cheer him, and 
we parted. 

" Having reported to the General, he ordered out Cilley's 
and Scammel's regiments of New Hampshire, to march and 
fall in on the left of Morgan, for which purpose I gave them 



48 



2o* 



378 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



the best directiQn my observation on the ground enabled me 
to do. These reghnents advanced through the woods, took 
ground on the left of Morgan, and the action was renewed 
about one o'clock, and was supported with spirit, though sub- 
ject to occasional pauses, as the troops on either side ad- 
vanced, retired, and shifted their ground. Hale's regiment 
of New Hampshire, Van Courtland's and Henry Livingston's 
of New York, and Cook's and Latimer's of the Connecticut 
militia, were successively led to the field, with orders to ex- 
tend to the left, and support those points of the action where 
they perceived the greatest pressure ; our right being secured 
by thickets and ravines. About three o'clock, the action be- 
came general ; and from that period until night-fall the fire 
of the musketry was incessant ; the enemy brought four field- 
pieces into the engagement, but on our side the ground was 
impracticable for artillery. Towards evening General 
Learned's whole brigade was ordered out, consisting of Bai- 
ley's, Weston's, and Jackson's regiments, of Massachusetts, 
and James Livingston's, of New York, together with Mar- 
shall's regiment of Patterson's brigade, and the Massachu- 
setts line. These troops got into action with a part of the 
British light corps, which had kept its ground to cover Bur- 
goyne's right, and a column of Germans, whom he had drawn 
from his left just about sunset, and of consequence they were 
but lightly engaged, as is manifest from their loss. If these 
columns had met at an earlier hour of the day, something 
decisive must have taken place, the ground being somewhat 
open and on the right flank of the enemy. We had about 
3000 men on the field, and the enemy, from General Bur- 
goyne's account, about 3500 ; on our part, the stress of the 
action fell upon Morgan's corps and Poor's brigade, and on 
that of the enemy it was chiefly sustained by Hamilton's 
brigade, consisting of the 20th, 21st, and 62d British infantry, 
with a brigade of artillery under Captain Jones, who was 
killed. 

" This battle was perfectly accidental ; neither of the gene- 
rals meditated an attack at the time, and but for Lieutenant- 
Colonel Colburn's report, it would not have taken place; 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 379 



Burgoyne's movement being merely to take ground on the 
heights in front of the great ravine, to give his several corps 
their proper places in line, to embrace our front and cover 
his transports, stores, provisions and baggage in rear of his 
left ; and on our side the defences of our camp being not half 
completed, and reinforcements daily arriving, it v^^as not Ge- 
neral Gates's policy to court an action. The misconception 
of the adverse chief put them on the defensive, and confined 
them to the ground they casually occupied at the beginning 
of the action, and prevented a single manoeuvre, during one 
of the longest, vv^armest, and most obstinate battles fought in 
America. General Gates believed that his antagonist in- 
tended to attack him, and circumstances appeared to justify 
the like conclusion on the part of Burgoyne ; and as the 
thickness and depth of the intervening wood concealed the 
position and movements of either army from its adversary, 
sound caution obliged the respective commanders to guard 
every assailable point ; thus the flower of the British army, 
the grenadiers and light infantry, 1500 strong, were posted 
on an eminence to cover its right, and stood by their arms, 
inactive spectators of the conflict until near sunset ; while 
General Gates was obliged to keep his right wing on post, to 
prevent the enemy from forcing that flank, by the plain bor- 
dering on the river. Had either of the generals been pro- 
perly apprized of the dispositions of his antagonist, a serious 
blow might have been struck on our left or the enemy's right ; 
but, although nothing is more common, it is as illiberal as it 
is unjust, to determine the merits of military operations by 
events exclusively. 

" The theatre of action was such, that although the com- 
batants changed ground a dozen times in the course of the 
day, the contest terminated on the spot where it began. 
This may be explained in a few words. The British line was 
formed on an eminence in a thin pine wood, having before it 
Freeman's farm, an oblong field stretching from the centre 
towards its right, the ground in front sloping gently down to 
the verge of this field, which was bordered on the opposite 
side by a close wood ; the sanguinary scene lay in the cleared 



380 THE ARMY AND NAVY- [1777. 



ground, between the eminence occupied by the enemy and 
the wood just described; the fire of our marksmen from this 
wood was too deadly to be withstood by the enemy in line, 
and when they gave way and broke, our men, rushing from 
their covert, pursued them to the eminence, where, having 
their flanks protected, they rallied, and charging in turn 
drove us back into the wood, from whence a dreadful fire 
would again force them to fall back ; and in this manner did 
the battle fluctuate, like waves of a stormy sea, with alter- 
nate advantage for four hours, without one moment's inter- 
mission. The British artillery fell into our possession at 
every charge, but we could neither turn the pieces upon the 
enemy, nor bring them off"; the wood prevented the last, and 
the want of a match the first, as the lintstock was invariably 
carried off", and the rapidity of the transitions did not allow 
us time to provide one. The slaughter of this brigade of 
artillerists was remarkable, the captain and 36 men being 
killed or wounded out of 48. It was truly a gallant conflict, 
in which death, by familiarity, lost his terrors, and certainly 
a drawn battle, as night alone terminated it ; the British 
army keeping its ground in rear of the field of action, and 
our corps, when they could no longer distinguish objects, 
retiring to their own camp." The enemy lost in killed and 
wounded more than 500 men, among whom was Captain 
Jones of the artillery. The American loss was between 300 
and 400, among whom were Colonels Adams and Colburn. 

After recording many letters, &c., Wilkinson continues: 
" General Burgoyne, having taken the determination to wait 
the movements of Sir Henry Clinton against fort Montgo- 
mery, turned his attention to the fortification of his camp. 
The army of General Gates was actively employed in similar 
labours, and the forest resounded under the strokes of the 
axe. Nevertheless the inaction of General Burgoyne was so 
opposite to his general character and apparent interests, that 
although the most desirable circumstance to General Gates, 
it caused him some perplexity. It was believed he expected 
succour from Canada, which was true ; and such dispositions 
were made of our irregulars, as to render their arrival diffi- 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 381 

cult if not impracticable; or he might, as was the fact, be 
waiting for co-operation from New York ; and there was 
some apprehension, that he intended to transfer his army to 
the east side of the river, and by forcing a passage with his 
bafteaux, to turn our right flank, though he had made no 
indication of such a movement. To penetrate any design he 
might have in that direction, I crossed the river with a de- 
tachment, and reconnoitred his left flank closely, but could 
make no other discovery than that he had thrown up a tete 
de pont. On my return to camp, I fell in with and captured 
45 armed seamen, who were on a marauding party among 
the deserted plantations, but could draw no other information 
from them except that they were attached to the batteaux. 
Our numbers increased daily, and for want of suitable ali- 
ment our sick mujtiplied proportionably. 

" Pending these scenes in the north, the grand army, under 
General Washington in the south, had been obliged, after the 
battle of Brandywine, to retire before the superior force of 
General Sir William Howe ; and the commander-in-chief, 
feeling sensibly the loss of Morgan's corps, which he had 
generously detached to aid the northern army, made a pro- 
visional request for its return. The letters which passed on 
that subject, will throw some light on the situation of the 
respective commanders at that interesting epoch. The letter 
of General Washington bears date the day after Sir William 
Howe crossed the Schuylkill. 

Camp, near Pottsgrove, Sept. 24th, 1777. 
Sir, — This army has not been able to oppose General 
Howe with the success that was wished, and needs a rein- 
forcement. I therefore request, if you have been so fortunate 
as to oblige General Burgoyne to retreat to Ticonderoga ; or 
if you have not, and circumstances will admit, that you will 
order Colonel Morgan to join me again with his corps. I sent 
him up when I thought you materially wanted him, and if his 
services can be dispensed with now, you will direct him to 
return immediately. You will perceive I do not mention this 
by way of command, but leave you to determine upon it 



382 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



according to your situation ; if they come, they should pro- 
ceed by water from Albany as low down as Peekskill ; in 
such case you will give Colonel Morgan the necessary orders 
to join me with despatch. 

I am, sir, your most obedient servant, 

George Washington. 
Major-General Gates. 

Camp, Bemus' Heights, Oct. 5, 1777. 
Sir, — Since the action of the 19th ultimo, the enemy have 
kept the ground they occupied the morning of that day, and 
fortified their camp ; the advanced sentries of my pickets are 
posted within a shot of and opposite to the enemy's ; neither 
side have given ground an inch. In this situation, your ex- 
cellency would not wish me to part with the corps the army 
of General Burgoyne are most afraid of. From the best in- 
telligence, he has not more than three weeks' provisions in 
store ; it will take him at least eight days to get back to 
Ticonderoga ; so that in a fortnight at furthest, he must de- 
cide whether he will really risk at infinite disadvantage to 
force my camp, or retreat to his den: in either case, I must 
have the fairest prospect to be able to reinforce your excel- 
lency in a more considerable manner than by a single regi- 
ment. I am sorry to repeat to your excellency the distress I 
have suffered for want of a proper supply of musket car- 
tridges from Springfield, or the materials to make them. The 
enclosed, from the commissary of ordnance stores at Albany, 
will convince your excellency of the truth of this assertion. 
My anxiety also, on account of provisions, has been inex- 
pressible; a greater error has not been committed this war, 
than the changing the commissariat in the middle of the cam- 
paign. You, sir, must have your grievances, I therefore will 
not awaken them by enlarging upon mine. 
1 have the honour to be, &c., 

Horatio Gates. 

His Excellency Gen. Washington. 

" The weather in the autumn of 1777, on the Hudson river, 
was chnrming, and the time glided away without any notable 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 383 

occurrence. As early as the blockade of Boston, I had ob- 
served that beating to arms frequently produced false alarms, 
atid always hurry ; I had therefore prevailed on the general 
to forbid the practice. Yet on the afternoon of the 7th Octo- 
ber, the advanced guard of the centre beat to arms ; the 
alarm w^as repeated throughout the line, and the troops re- 
paired to their alarm-posts. I was at head-quarters when 
this happened, and with the approbation of the General, 
mounted my horse to inquire the cause ; but on reaching the 
guard where the beat commenced, I could obtain no other 
satisfaction, but that some person had reported the enemy to 
be advancing against. our left. I proceeded over open ground, 
and, ascending a gentle acclivity in front of the guard, I per- 
ceived, about half a mile from the line of our encampment, 
several columns of the enemy, sixty or seventy rods from me, 
entering a wheat-field which had not been cut, and was sepa- 
rated from me by a small rivulet ; and without my glass I 
could distinctly mark their every movement. After entering 
the field, they displayed, formed the line, and sat down in 
double ranks with their arms between their legs. Foragers 
then proceeded to cut the wheat or standing straw, and I 
soon after observed several officers, mounted on the top of a 
cabin, from whence with their glasses they were endeavour- 
ing to reconnoitre our left, which was concealed from their 
view by intervening woods. 

" Having satisfied myself, after fifteen minutes' attentive 
observation, that no attack was meditated, I returned and 
reported to the General, who asked me what appeared to be 
the intentions of the enemy. ' They are foraging, and endea- 
vouring to reconnoitre your left ; and I think, sir, they oflfer 
you battle.' ' What is the nature of the ground, and what 
your opinions V ' Their front is open, and their flanks rest 
oa woods, under cover of which they may be attacked ; their 
right is skirted by a lofty height. I would indulge them.' 
' Well, then, order on Morgan to begin the game.' I waited 
on the colonel, whose corps was formed in front of our centre, 
and delivered the order ; he knew the ground, and inquired 
the position of the enemy : they were formed across a newly 



_J 



384 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



cultivated field, their grenadiers with several field-pieces on 
the left, bordering on a wood and a small ravine formed by 
the rivulet before alluded to ; their light infantry on the right 
covered by a worm-fence at the foot of the hill before men- 
tioned, thickly covered with wood ; their centre composed of 
British and German battalions. Colonel Morgan, with his 
usual sagacity, proposed to make a circuit with his corps by 
our left, and under cover of the wood to gain the height on 
the right of the enemy, and from thence commence his attack, 
so soon as our fire should be opened against their left ; the 
plan was the best which could be devised, and no doubt 
contributed essentially to the prompt and decisive victory we 
gained. 

" This proposition was approved by the General, and it 
was concerted that time should be allowed the Colonel to 
make the proposed circuit, and gain his station on the enemy's 
right before the attack should be made on their left ; Poor's 
brigade was ordered for this service, and the attack was com- 
menced in due season on the flank and front of the British 
grenadiers, by the New Hampshire and New York troops. 

" True to his purpose, Morgan, at this critical moment, 
poured down like a torrent from the hill, and attacked the 
right of the enemy in front and flank. Dearborn, at the 
moment when the enemy's light infantry were attempting to 
change front, pressed forward with ardour, and delivered a 
close fire ; then leaped the fence, shouted, charged, and gal- 
lantly forced them to retire in disorder ; yet, headed by that 
intrepid soldier, the Earl of Balcarras, they were immediately 
rallied, and re-formed behind a fence in rear of their first 
position; but being now attacked with great audacity in 
front and flank by superior numbers, resistance became vain; 
and the whole line, commanded by Burgoyne in person, gave 
way, and made a precipitate and disorderly retreat to his 
camp, leaving 2 twelve, and 6 six-pounders on the field, with 
the loss of more than 400 officers and men killed, wounded, 
and captured, and among them the flower of his officers, viz., 
Brigadier-General Frazer, Major Ackland, commanding the 
grenadiers ; Sir Francis Clarke, his first aid-de-camp ; Major 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 385 

Williams, commanding officer of the artillery; Captain 
Money, deputy quartermaster-general, and many others. 
After delivering the order to General Poor, and directing him 
to the point of attack, I was peremptorily commanded to re- 
pair to the rear, and order up Ten Broeck's brigade of York 
militia, 3000 strong; I performed this service, and regained 
the field of battle at the moment the enemy had turned their 
backs, fifty-two minutes after the first shot was fired. The 
ground which had been occupied by the British grenadiers, 
presented a scene of complicated horror and exultation. In 
the square space of twelve or fifteen yards, lay eighteen gre- 
nadiers in the agonies of death, and three officers propped up 
against stumps of trees, two of them mortally wounded, 
bleeding, and almost speechless ; what a spectacle for one 
whose bosom glowed with philanthropy ; and how vehement 
the impulse, which can excite men of sensibility to seek such 
scenes of barbarism ! I found the courageous Colonel Cilley 
a-straddle of a brass twelve-pounder, and exulting in the cap- 
ture — whilst a surgeon, a man of great worth, who was dress- 
ing one of the officers, raising his blood-besmeared hands in 
a frenzy of patriotism, exclaimed, Wilkinson, I have dipped my 
hands in British blood. He received a sharp rebuke for his 
brutality; and, with the troops, I pursued the hard-pressed, 
flying enemy, passing over killed and wounded, until I 
heard one exclaim, * Protect me, sir, against this boy !' 
Turning my eyes, it was my fortune to arrest the purpose of 
a lad, thirteen or fourteen years old, in the act of taking aim 
at a wounded officer, who lay in the angle of a worm-fence. 
Inquiring his rank, he answered, ' I had the honour to com- 
mand the grenadiers ; ' of course, I knew him to be Major 
Ackland, who had been brought from the field to this place, 
on the back of a Captain Shrimpton of his own corps, under 
a heavy fire, and was here deposited to save the lives of both. 
I dismounted, took him by the hand, and expressed hopes that 
he was not badly wounded. * Not badly,' replied this gallant 
officer and accomplished gentleman, ' but very inconveniently; 
I am shot through both legs : will you, sir, have the goodness 
to have me conveyed to your camp V I directed my servant 

49 2^1 



386 THE AKMY AND NAVY. [1777. 

to alight, and we lifted Ackland into his seat, and ordered him 
to be conducted to head-quarters. I then proceeded to the 
scene of renewed action, which embraced Burgoyne's right- 
flank defence, and extending to his left, crossed a hollow, 
covered with wood, about forty rods to the entrenchments of 
the light infantry : the roar of cannon and small-arms at this 
juncture was sublime, between the enemy, behind their 
works, and our troops, entirely exposed or partially sheltered 
by trees, stumps, or hollows, at various distances, not exceed- 
ing 120 yards. This right-flank defence of the enemy, occu- 
pied by the German corps of Breyman, consisted of a breast- 
work of rails, piled horizontally between perpendicular 
pickets, driven into the earth, formed en potence to the rest 
of the line, and extended about 250 yards across an open 
field, and was covered on the right by a battery of two guns. 
The interval from the left to the British light infantry, was 
committed to the defence of the provincialists, who occupied 
a couple of log-cabins. The Germans were encamped imme- 
diately behind the rail breast-work, and the ground in front 
of it declined in a very gentle slope for about 120 yards, 
when it sunk abruptly ; our troops had formed a line under 
this declivity, and, covered breast-high, were warmly engaged 
with the Germans. From this position, about sunset, I per- 
ceived Brigadier-General Learned advancing towards the 
enemy with his brigade, in open column ; I think with Colonel 
M. Jackson's regiment in front, as I saw Lieutenant-Colonel 
Brooks, who commanded it, near the General when I rode up 
to him : on saluting this brave old soldier, he inquired, ' Where 
can I put in with most advantage?' I had particularly ex- 
amined the ground between the left of the Germans and the 
light infantry, occupied by the provincialists, from whence I 
had observed a slack fire ; I therefore recommended to General 
Learned to incline to his right, and attack at this point : he 
did so with great gallantry ; the provincialists abandoned 
their position and fled ; the German flank was by this means 
uncovered ; they were assaulted vigorously, overturned in five 
minutes, and retreated in disorder, leaving their gallant com- 
mander, Lieutenant-Colonel Breyman, dead on the field. By 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 387 



dislodging this corps, the whole British encampment was laid 
open to us ; but the extreme darkness of the night, the fatigue 
of the men, and the disorder incident to undisciplined troops 
after so desultory an action, put it out of our power to im- 
prove the advantage ; and in the course of the night General 
Burgoyne broke up his camp, and retired to his original posi- 
tion, which he had fortified, behind the great ravine." 

We have omitted Wilkinson's remarks on General Arnold, 
because we do not think it right to condemn him until the 
proper period arrives. We abhor traitors, but we love jus- 
tice; and as long as Arnold fights the battles of America, we 
should at least give him credit for courage, if we deny him 
everything else. After fighting in the field with a fierceness 
amounting to desperation, he rushed like an ocean wave upon 
Burgoyne himself, and drove him precipitately into his camp. 
After a most sanguinary action, he entered the works of the 
enemy with a few bold and daring men, when he received a 
severe wound in the same leg that was shattered at Quebec. 
He was obliged to retire, but his party continued the attack 
until dark. 

Burgoyne, unable either to advance or maintain his present 
position, resolved to attempt to save his army by a retreat to 
Saratoga, where he intended to cross the river. Leaving his 
hospital of sick and wounded at the mercy of the Americans, 
who treated them well, he commenced his retreat on the 9th, 
but Gates had anticipated him by detaching a strong division 
of his army to take post on the left bank of the Hudson, op- 
posite Saratoga. He had also thrown some militia into fort 
Edward, so that Burgoyne found both his retreat and his 
provisions cut off. After various unsuccessful attempts to 
escape and some hot skirmishing, the British commander 
called a council of war on the 13th, when it was unanimously 
resolved to propose terms to General Gates. While the 
council were deliberating, an eighteen-pound shot passed over 
their table, a very strong and impressive argument in favour 
of a capitulation. Preliminaries being settled, the British 
army, consisting of 5700 effective men, the remains of an 
army of 10,000, surrendered prisoners of war, on the 17th 



388 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



of October. They marched out of their camp and deposited 
their arms along the Hudson near Saratoga, or Schuylerville, 
on the low ground, where a French fort once stood, the 
remains of which are still to be seen. The British army was 
supplied with food, and sent to Boston. 

" But now Britannia's chief, with proud disdain, 

Coop'd in his camp, demands the field again; 

Back to their fate his splendid host he drew, 

Swell'd high their rage, and led the charge anew ; 

Again the batteries roar, the lightnings play, 

Again they fall, again they roll away ; 

For now Columbia, with rebounding might, 

Foil'd quick their columns, but confined the flight : 

Her wings, like fierce tornados, gyring ran, 

Crush'd their wide flanks, and gain'd their flying van; 

Here Arnold charged ; the hero storm'd and pour'd 

A thousand thunders where he turn'd his sword; 

No pause, no parley ; onward far he fray'd, 

Dispersed whole squadrons every bound he made, 

Broke through their rampart, seized their camp and stores, 

And pluck'd the standard from their broken towers. 

Aghast, confounded in the midway field. 
They drop their arms ; the banded nations yield. 
When sad Burgoyne, in one disastrous day. 
Sees future crowns and former wreaths decay. 
His banners furl'd, his long battalions wheel'd 
To pile their muskets on the battle-field ; 
While two pacific armies shade one plain. 
The mighty victors and the captive train." 

Nothing can show the horrors of war in so striking a man- 
ner as the recital of individual sufferings. We sympathize 
with the few, while we read the sufferings of the multitude 
as a pleasing tale. 

The Baroness de Reidesel and Lady Harriet Ackland fol- 
lowed their husbands, the Baron de Reidesel and Major Ack- 
land, officers in Burgoyne's army, through this difficult and, 
to them, most disastrous campaign. 

Extract from the Baroness de ReidesePs JVarrative. 
"As we had to march still further, I ordered a large calash 
to be built, capable of holding my three children, myself and 



=dl 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 389 



two female servants; in this manner we moved with the 
army in the midst of the soldiery, who were very merry, 
singing songs and panting for action. We had to travel 
through almost impassable woods and a most picturesque and 
beautiful country, which was abandoned by its inhabitants, 
who had repaired to the standard of General Gates ; they 
added much to his strength, as they were all good marksmen 
and fitted by habit for the species of warfare the contending 
parties were then engaged in — and the love of their country 
inspired them with more than ordinary courage. The army 
had shortly to encamp : 1 generally remained about an hour's 
march in the rear, where I received daily visits from my hus- 
band ; the army was frequently engaged in small affairs, but 
nothing of importance took place; and as the season was 
getting cold. Major Williams of the artillery proposed to 
have a house built for me with a chimney, observing that it 
would not cost more than five or six guineas, and that the fre- 
quent change of quarters was very inconvenient to me. It 
was accordingly built, and was called the Block-house, from 
its square form and the resemblance it bore to those buildings. 

" On the 19th of September, an affair happened, which, 
although it turned out to our advantage, yet obliged us to 
halt at a place called Freeman's farm; I was an eye-witness 
to the whole affair, and as my husband was engaged in it, I 
was full of anxiety, and trembled at every shot I heard ; I 
saw a great number of the wounded, and what added to the 
distress of the scene, three of them were brought into the 
house in which I took shelter; one was a Major Harnage, 
of the 62d British regiment, the husband of a lady of my ac- 
quaintance ; another was a lieutenant, married to a lady with 
whom I had the honour to be on terms of intimacy, and the 
third was an officer of the name of Young. 

"In a short time afterwards I heard groans proceeding from 
a room near mine, and knew they must have been occasioned 
by the sufferings of the last-mentioned officer, who lay writh- 
ing in his wounds. 

" His mournful situation interested me much, and the more 
so, because the recollection of many polite attentions, received 



390 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



from a family of that name during my visit to England, was 
still forcibly impressed on my mind. I sent to him and 
begged him to accept my best services, and afterwards fur- 
nished him with food and refreshments ; he expressed a great 
desire to see me, politely calling me his benefactress. I ac- 
cordingly visited him, and found him lying on a little straw, 
as he had lost his equipage. He was a young man, eighteen 
or nineteen years of age, and really the beloved nephew of 
the Mr. Young, the head of the family I have mentioned, and 
the only son of his parents. This last circumstance was what 
he lamented most ; as to his pain, he thought lightly of it. 
He had lost much blood, and it was thought necessary to am- 
putate his leg, but this he would not consent to, and of course 
a mortification took place. I sent him my cushions and cov- 
erings, and my female friends sent him a mattrass. I re- 
doubled my attentions to him, and visited him every day, for 
which I received a thousand wishes for my happiness. . At 
last his limb was amputated, but it was too late, and he died 
the following day. As he lay in the next room to me, and 
the partition was very thin, I distinctly heard his last sigh, 
when his immortal part quitted its frail tenement, and, I trust, 
winged its way to the mansions of eternal bliss. 

" But severe trials awaited us, and on the 7th October our 
misfortunes began. I was at breakfast with my husband, 
and heard that something was intended. On the same day 
I expected Generals Burgoyne, Phillips, and Frazer, to dine 
with us. I saw a great movement among the troops ; my 
husband told me it w^as merely a reconnoissance, which gave 
me no concern, as it often happened. I walked out of the 
house and met several Indians in their war-dresses, with guns 
in their hands. When I asked them where they were going, 
they cried out, War ! War ! (meaning that they were going 
to battle.) This filled me with apprehension, and I had 
scarcely got home, before I heard reports of cannon and mus- 
ketry, which grew louder by degrees, till at last the noise 
became excessive. About four o'clock in the afternoon, in- 
stead of the guests whom I expected. General Frazer was 
brought on a litter, mortally wounded. The table, which was 



1 

1777.] REVOLUTION. 391 

already set, was instantly removed, and a bed placed in its 
stead for the wounded general. I sat trembling in a corner ; 
the noise grew louder and the alarm increased ; the thought 
that my husband might perhaps be brought in, wounded in 
the same manner, was terrible to me, and distressed me ex- 
ceedingly. General Frazer said to the surgeon, * Tell me if 
my uound is mortal: do not flatter me.' The ball had passed 
through his body, and, unhappily for the General, he had 
eaten a very hearty breakfast, by which the stomach was 
distended, and the ball, as the surgeon said, had passed 
through it. I heard him often exclaim, with a sigh, ' Oh ! 
fatal ambition ! Poor General Burgoyne ! Oh ! my poor 
wife !' He was asked if he had any request to make, to 
which he replied, that ' if General Burgoyne would permit it, 
he should like to be buried at six o'clock in the evening, on 
the top of a mountain, in a redoubt which had been built 
there.' I did not know which way to turn ; all the other 
rooms were full of sick. Towards evening I saw my husband 
coming ; then I forgot all my sorrows, and thanked God that 
he was spared to me. He ate in great haste with me and his 
aid-de-camp, behind the house. We had been told that we 
had the advantage of the enemy, but the sorrowful faces I 
beheld told a different tale ; and before my husband went 
away, he took me on one side, and said everything was going 
very bad ; that I must keep myself in readiness to leave the 
place, but not to mention it to any one. I made the pretence 
that I would move the next morning into my new house, and 
had everything packed up ready. 

" Lady Harriet Ackland had a tent not far from our house ; 
in this she slept, and the rest of the day she was in the camp. 
All of a sudden, a man came to tell her that her husband was 
mortally wounded, and taken prisoner. On hearing this she 
became very miserable ; we comforted her, by telling her that 
the wound was only slight ; and, at the same time, advised 
her to go over to her husband — to do which, she would cer- 
tainly obtain permission — and then she could attend him her- 
self: she was a charming woman, and very fond of him. I 
spent much of the night in comforting her, and then went 



392 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



again to my children, whom I had put to bed. I could not go 
to sleep, as I had General Frazer, and all the other wounded 
gentlemen in my room, and I was sadly afraid my children 
would awake, and by their crying, disturb the dying man in 
his last moments ; who often addressed me, and apologized 
'for the trouble he gave me.' About three o'clock in the 
morning, I was told that he could not hold out much longer: 
I had desired to be informed of the near approach of this sad 
crisis ; and I then wrapped up my children in their clothes, 
and went with them into the room below. About eight 
o'clock in the morning, he died. After he was laid out, and 
his corpse wrapped up in a sheet, we came again into the 
room, and had this sorrowful sight before us the whole day ; 
and to add to the melancholy scene, almost every moment, 
some officer of my acquaintance was brought in wounded. 
The cannonade commenced again : a retreat was spoken of, 
but not the smallest motion was made towards it. About 
four o'clock in the afternoon, I saw the house which had just 
been built for me, in flames, and the enemy was now not far 
off! We knew that General Burgoyne would not refuse the 
last request of General Frazer ; though, by his acceding to it, 
an unnecessary delay was occasioned, by which the incon- 
venience of the army was much increased. At six o'clock, 
the corpse was brought out, and we saw all the generals 
attend it to the mountain; the chaplain, Mr. Brudenell, per- 
formed the funeral service, rendered unusually solemn and 
awful, from its being accompanied by constant peals from the 
enemy's artillery. Many cannon-balls flew close by me ; but 
I had my eyes directed towards the mountain, where my 
husband was standing, amidst the fire of the enemy, and, of 
course, I could not think of my own danger." 

General Gates afterwards said, that if he had known it had 
been a funeral, he would not have permitted it to be fired on. 

"As soon as the funeral service was finished, and the grave 
of General Frazer was closed, an order was issued that the 
army should retreat. My calash was prepared, but I would 
not consent to go before the troops. Major Harnage, although 
suffering from his wounds, crept from his bed, as he did not 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 31)3 



wish to remain in the hospital, which was left with a flag of 
truce. When' General Reidesel saw me in the midst of 
danger, he ordered my women and children to be brought 
into the calash, and intimated to me to depart without delay. 
I still prayed to remain, but my husband, knowing my weak 
side, said, ' Well, then your children must go, that, at least, 
they may be safe from danger.' I then agreed to enter the 
calash with them, and we set off at eight o'clock. 

" The retreat was ordered to be conducted with the greatest 
silence ; many fires were lighted, and several tents were left 
standing; we travelled continually during the night. At six 
o'clock in the morning we halted, which excited the surprise 
of all ; General Burgoyne had the cannon ranged and counted ; 
this delay seemed to displease every body, for if we cotild 
only have made another good march, we should have been in 
safety. My husband, quite exhausted with fatigue, came into 
my calash, and slept for three hours ; during that time Cap- 
tain Willoe brought me a bag full of bank-notes, and Captain 
Geismar his elegant watch, a ring, and a purse full of money, 
which they requested me to take care of, and which I pro- 
mised to do to the utmost of my power. We again marched, 
but had scarcely proceeded an hour before we halted, as the 
enemy was in sight ; it proved to be only a reconnoitring 
party of 200 men, who might easily have been made prisoners, 
if General Burgoyne had given proper orders on the occasion. 

" The Indians had now lost their courage and were depart- 
ing for their homes ; these people appeared to droop much 
under adversity, and especially when they had no prospect of 
plunder. One of my waiting-women was in a state of despair, 
which approached to madness ; she cursed and tore her hair, 
and, when I attempted to reason with her and to pacify her, 
she asked me if I was not grieved at our situation ; and upon 
my saying * I was,' she tore her cap off her head, and let her 
hair drop over her face, saying to me, * It is very easy for you 
to be composed and talk ; you have your husband with you ; 
I have none, and what remains to me but the prospect of 
perishing or losing all I have ;' I again bade her to take com- 
fort, and assured her I would make good whatever she might 
_ 



394 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 

happen to lose ; and I made the same promise to Ellen, my 
other waiting-woman, who, though filled with apprehensions, 
made no complaints. 

"About evening we arrived at Saratoga ; my dress was wet 
through and through with rain, and in that state I had to 
remain the whole night, having no place to change it ; I how- 
ever got close to a large fire, and at last lay down on some 
straw. At this moment, General Phillips came up to me, and 
I asked him why we had not continued our retreat, as my 
husband had promised to cover it and bring the army through? 
* Poor, dear woman,' said he, ' I wonder how, drenched as 
you are, you have the courage still to persevere and venture 
further in this kind of weather ; I wish,' continued he, ' you 
were our commanding general. General Burgoyne is tired, 
and means to halt here to-night, and give us our supper.' 

"On themorningof the9th,at ten o'clock, General Burgoyne 
ordered the retreat to be continued, and caused the handsome 
houses and mills of General Schuyler to be burned ; we 
marched, however, but a short distance, and then halted. 
The greatest misery, at this time, prevailed in the army, and 
more than thirty officers came to me, for whom tea and coffee 
was prepared, and with whom I shared all my provisions, 
with which my calash was, in general, well supplied : for I 
had a cook, who was an excellent caterer, and who often, in 
the night, crossed small rivers and foraged on the inhabitants, 
bringing in with him sheep, small pigs, and poultry, for which 
he very often forgot to pay, though he received good pay from 
me, as long as I had any, and was, ultimately, handsomely 
rewarded. Our provisions now failed us for want of proper 
conduct in the commissary's department, and I began to 
despair. About two o'clock in the afternoon, we again heard 
a firing of cannon and small-arms ; instantly all was alarm, 
and everything in motion. My husband told me to go to a 
house not far off; I immediately seated myself in my calash, 
with my children, and drove off, but scarcely had we reached 
it, before I discovered five or six armed men on the other side 
of the Hudson ; instinctively I threw my children down in the 
calash, and then concealed myself with them ; at that moment 



1777.1 REVOLUTION. 



395 



the fellows fired, and wounded an already wounded English 
soldier, who was behind me ; poor fellow, I pitied him exceed- 
ingly, but, at that moment, had no means or power to relieve 
him. A terrible cannonade was commenced by the enemy, 
which was directed against the house in which I sought to 
obtain shelter for myself and children, under the mistaken 
idea that all the generals were in it. Alas ! it contained none 
but wounded and women ; we were at last obliged to resort 
to the cellar for refuge, and, in one corner of this, I remained 
the whole day, my children sleeping on the earth with their 
heads in my lap, and, in the same situation, I passed a sleep- 
less night. Eleven cannon-balls passed through the house, 
and we could distinctly hear them roll away. One poor 
soldier, who was lying on a table, for the purpose of having 
his leg amputated, was struck by a shot, which carried away 
his other ; his comrades had left him, and when we went to 
his assistance, we found him in a corner of the room, into 
which he had crept, more dead than alive, scarcely breathing. 
My reflections on the danger to which my husband was 
exposed, now agonized me exceedingly, and the thoughts of 
my children, and the necessity of struggling for their preser- 
vation, alone sustained me. 

" The ladies of the army who were with me were, Mrs. 
Harnage ; a Mrs. Kennels, the widow of a lieutenant who 
was killed, and the lady of the commissary. Major Harnage, 
his wife, and Mrs. Kennels, made a little room in a corner, 
with curtains to it, and wished to do the same for me, but I 
preferred being near the door, in case of fire. Not far off", 
my woman slept, and opposite to us three English officers, 
who, though wounded, were determined not to be left behind ; 
one of them was Captain Green, an aid-de-camp to Major- 
General Phillips, a very valuable officer, and most agreeable 
man. They each made me a most sacred promise not to 
leave me behind, and in case of a sudden retreat, that they 
would each of them take one of my children on his horse ; and 
for myself, one of my husband's was in constant readiness. 

" Our cook, whom I have before mentioned, procured us 
our meals : but we were in want of water, and I was often 



396 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



obliged to drink wine, and to give it to my children. It was 
the only thing my husband took, which made our faithful 
hunter (Rockel) express one day his apprehensions, that the 
general was weary of his life, or fearful of being taken, as he 
drank so much wine.' The constant danger which my hus- 
band was in, kept me in a state of wretchedness, and I asked 
myself if it was possible I should be the only happy one, and 
have my husband spared to me unhurt, exposed, as he was, to 
so many perils. He never entered his tent, but laid down 
whole nights by the watch-fires; this, alone, was enough to 
have killed him, the cold was so intense. 

" The want of water distressed us much ; at length we 
found a soldier's wife, who had courage enough to fetch us 
some from the river ; an office nobody else would undertake, 
as the Americans shot at every person who approached it ; 
but, out of respect for her sex, they never molested her. 

" I now occupied myself through the day, in attending the 
wounded : I made them tea and coffee, and often shared my 
dinner with them, for which they offered me a thousand ex- 
pressions of gratitude. One day, a Canadian officer came to 
our cellar, who had scarcely the power of holding himself 
upright, and we concluded that he was dying for want of 
nourishment ; I was happy in offering him my dinner, which 
strengthened him, and procured me his friendship. I now 
undertook the care of Major Bloomfield, another aid-de-camp 
of General Phillips; he had received a musket-ball through 
both cheeks, which in its course had knocked out several of 
his teeth, and cut his tongue ; he could hold nothing in his 
mouth ; the matter which ran from his wound almost choked 
him, and he was not able to take any nourishment except a 
little soup, or something liquid; we had some Rhenish wine, 
and in the hope that the acidity of it would cleanse his 
wound, I gave him a bottle of it ; he took a little now and 
then, and with such effect, that his cure soon followed ; thus 
I added another to my stock of friends, and derived a satis- 
faction, which, in the midst of sufferings, served fo tranquil- 
lize me and diminish their acuteness. 

" One day General Phillips accompanied my husband, at 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 397 

the risk of their lives, on a visit to us, who, after having wit- 
nessed our situation, said to him, ' I would not for ten thou- 
sand guineas come again to this place : my heart is almost 
broken.' 

" In this horrid situation we remained six days : a cessation 
of hostilities was now spoken of, and eventually took place ; 
a convention was afterwards agreed upon; but one day a 
message was sent to my husband, who had visited me and 
was reposing in my bed, to attend a council of war, where 
it was proposed to break the convention, but, to my great 
joy, the majority was for adhering to it ; on the IGth, how- 
ever, my husband had to repair to his post and I to my cel- 
lar ; this day fresh beef was served out to the officers, who, 
until now, had only salt provisions, which was very bad for 
their wounds. The good woman who brought us water, 
made us an excellent soup of the meat, but I had lost my 
appetite, and took nothing but crusts of bread dipped in wine. 
The wounded officers (ray unfortunate companions) cut off 
the best bit and presented it to me on a plate ; 1 declined eat- 
ing anything, but they contended that it was necessary for 
me to take nourishment, and declared they would not touch 
a morsel, until I afforded them the pleasure of seeing me 
partake ; I could no longer withstand their pressing invita- 
tions, accompanied as they were by assurances of the hap- 
piness they had in offering me the first good thing they had 
in their power, and I partook of a repast rendered palatable 
by the kindness and good will of my fellow-sufferers, forget- 
ting for the moment the misery of our apartment and the 
absence of almost every comfort. 

" On the 17th of October the convention was completed. 
General Burgoyne and the other generals waited on the Ame- 
rican general (Gates) ; the troops laid down their arms, and 
gave themselves up prisoners of war ! and now the good wo- 
man who had supplied us with water at the hazard of her 
life, received the reward of her services ; each of us threw 
a handful of money into her apron, and she got altogether 
about twenty guineas. At such a moment as this, how suscep- 
tible is the heart of feelings of gratitude ! 

— 



398 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



" My husband sent a message to me to come over to him 
with my children. I seated myself once more in my dear 
calash, and then rode through the American camp. As I 
passed on, I observed (and this was a great consolation to 
me) that no one eyed me with looks of resentment, but that 
they all greeted us, and even showed compassion in their 
countenances, at the sight of a woman with small child/en. 
I was, I confess, afraid to go over to the enemy, as it was quite 
a new situation to me. When I drew near the tents, a hand- 
some man approached and met me, took my children from the 
calash, and hugged and kissed them, which affected me almost 
to tears. ' You tremble,' said he, addressing himself to me, 
' be not afraid.' ' No,' I answered, ' you seem so kind and 
tender to my children, it inspires me with courage.' He now 
led me to the tent of General Gates, where I found Generals 
Burgoyne and Phillips, who were on a friendly footing with 
the former. Burgoyne said to me, ' Never mind, your sor- 
rows have now an end.' I answered him that I should be 
reprehensible to have any cares, as he had none ; and I was 
pleased to see him on such a friendly footing with General 
Gates. All the generals remained to dine with General Gates. 

" The same gentleman who received me so kindly, now came 
and said to me, ' You will be very much embarrassed to eat 
with all these gentlemen ; come with your children to my tent, 
where I will prepare for you a frugal dinner, and give it with 
a free will.' I said, ' You are certainly a husband and a 
FATHER, you httvc shown me so much kindness.' I now found 
that he was General Schuyler. He treated me with excel- 
lent smoked tongue, beef-steaks, potatoes, and good bread 
and butter ! Never could I have wished to eat a better din- 
ner : I was content ; I saw all around me were so likewise ; 
and what was better than all, my husband was out of dan- 
ger ! When we had dined, he told me his residence was at 
Albany, and that General Burgoyne intended to honour him 
as his guest, and invited myself and children to do so like- 
wise. I asked my husband how I should act ; he told me to 
accept the invitation. As it was two days' journey there, 
he advised me to go to a place which was about three hours' 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 399 



ride distant. General Schuyler had the politeness to send 
with me a French officer, a very agreeable man, who com- 
manded the reconnoitring party of which I have before 
spoken ; and when he had escorted me to the house where I 
was to remain, he turned back again. In the house I found 
a French surgeon, who had under his care a Brunswick offi- 
cer who was mortally wounded, and died some days after- 
wards. The Frenchman boasted much of the care he took 
of his patient, and perhaps was skilful enough as a surgeon, 
but otherwise was a mere simpleton : he was rejoiced when 
he found out I could speak his language, and began to address 
many empty and impertinent speeches to me ; said, among 
other things, he could not believe that I was a general's wife, 
as he was certain a woman of such rank would not follow 
her husband ; he wished me to remain with him, as he said 
it was better to be with the conquerors than the conquered. 
I was shocked at his impudence ; but dared not show the 
contempt and disdain I felt for him, because it would deprive 
me of a place of safety ! Towards evening he begged me to 
take a part of his chamber : I told him I was determined to 
remain in the room with the wounded officers ; whereupon 
he attempted to pay me some stupid compliments. At this 
moment the door opened, and my husband with his aid-de-camp 
entered. I then said, ' Here, sir, is my husband ;' and at the 
same time eyed him with scorn, whereupon he retired abashed ; 
nevertheless he was so polite as to offer his chamber to us. 

" Some days after this, we arrived at Albany, where we so 
often wished ourselves ; but we did not enter it as we expected 
we should — victors ! We were received by the good General 
Schuyler, his wife and daughters, not as enemies, but kind 
friends, and they treated us with the most marked attention 
and politeness, as they did General Burgoyne, who had 
caused General Schuyler's beautifully finished house to be 
burned ; in fact, they behaved like persons of exalted minds, 
who determined to bury all recollection of their own injuries 
in the contemplation of our misfortunes. General Burgoyne 
was struck with General Schuyler's generosity, and said to 
him, * You show me great kindness, although J have done you 



400 THE ARMY AND NAVV. [1777, 



much injury.' ' That was the fate of war,' replied the brave 
man, 'let us say no more about it.' " — Wilkinson's Memoirs. 

But we must not forget Lady Harriet Ackland. This lady, 
says General Burgoyne, in his " State of the Expedition from 
Canada," had accompanied her husband to Canada, in the 
beginning of the year 1776. In the course of that campaign, 
she traversed a vast space of country, in different extremities 
of the season, and with difficulties of which a European tra- 
veller cannot easily conceive. 

In the opening of the campaign of 1777, she was re- 
strained from offering herself to a share of the fatigue and 
hazard expected before Ticonderoga, by the positive injunc- 
tions of her husband. The day after the conquest of the 
place, he was badly wounded, and she crossed lake Champlain 
to join him. 

As soon as he recovered. Lady Harriet proceeded to 
follow his fortunes through the campaign; and at fort Ed- 
ward, or at the next camp, she acquired a two-wheeled tum- 
bril, which had been constructed by the artificers of the 
artillery, something similar to the carriage used for the mail, 
upon the great roads in England. Major Ackland commanded 
the British grenadiers, which were attached to General 
Frazer's corps ; and, consequently, were always the most ad- 
vanced part of the army. They were often so much on the 
alert, that no person slept out of his clothes. One of their 
temporary encampments, a tent in which the major and Lady 
Harriet were asleep, suddenly took fire. An orderly sergeant 
of grenadiers, with great hazard of suffocation, dragged out 
the first person he caught hold of. It proved to be the major. 
It happened that, in the same instant, she had, unknowing 
what she did, and, perhaps, not perfectly awaked, providen- 
tially made her escape, by creeping under the walls of the 
tent. The first object she saw, upon the recovery of her 
senses, was the major on the other side ; and, in the same in- 
stant, again in the fire in search of her. The sergeant again 
saved him, but not without the major's being very severely 
burned in his face, and different parts of his body. Every 
thing they had with them in the tent was consumed. 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 401 

This accident happened a little time before the army 
crossed the Hudson, the 13th of September. It neither altered 
the resolution nor cheerfulness of Lady Harriet, and she con- 
tinued her progress, a partaker of the fatigues of the advanced 
corps. The next call upon her fortitude was of a different 
nature, and more distressing, as of longer suspense. On the 
morning of the 19th of September, the grenadiers being liable 
to action at every step, she had been directed by the Major 
to follow the route of the artillery and baggage, which were 
not exposed. At the time the action began, she found herself 
near an uninhabited hut, where she alighted. When it was 
found the action was becoming general, the surgeon of the 
hospital took possession of the same place, as the most conve- 
nient for the first care of the wounded. Thus was this lady 
in the hearing of one continued fire of cannon and musketry, 
for four hours, together with the presumption, from the post 
of her husband, at the head of the grenadiers, that he was in 
the most exposed part of the action. She had three female 
companions ; the Baroness of Reidesel, and the wives of two 
British officers, Major Harnage, and Lieutenant Reynell ; but 
in the event, their presence served but little for comfort. 
Major Harnage was soon brought to the surgeon, very badly 
wounded ; and, a little time after, came the intelligence that 
Lieutenant Reynell was shot dead. Imagination will want 
no help to figure the state of the whole group. 

From the date of that action to the 7th of October, Lady 
Harriet, with her usual serenity, stood prepared for new 
trials ; and it was her lot that their severity increased with 
their number. She was again exposed to the hearing of the 
whole action, and at last received the news of her individual 
misfortune, mixed with the intelligence of the general cala- 
mity ; the troops were defeated, and Major Ackland, despe- 
rately wounded, was a prisoner. 

The day of the 8th was passed by Lady Harriet and her 
companions in uncommon anxiety; not a tent nor a shed 
being standing, except what belonged to the hospital, their 
refuge was among the wounded and the dying. 

" When the army was upon the point of moving," says 

51 2^ 



402 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



Burgpyne, " I received a message from Lady Harriet, sub- 
mitting to my decision a proposal, and expressing an earnest 
solicitude to execute it, if not interfering with my designs, of 
passing to the camp of the enemy, and requesting General 
Gates's permission to attend her husband. 

" Though I was ready to believe, for I had experienced, 
that patience and fortitude, in a supreme degree, were to be 
found, as well as every other virtue, under the most tender 
forms, I was astonished at the proposal- After so long an 
agitation, exhausted, not only from want of rest, but absolutely 
from want of food, drenched in rain for twelve hours together, 
that a woman should be capable of such an undertaking as 
delivering herself to the enemy, probably in the night, and 
uncertain of what hand she might first fall into, appeared an 
effort above human nature. The assurance I was enabled to 
give was small indeed. I had not even a cup of wine to offer; 
but I was told she found, from some kind and fortunate hand, 
a little rum and dirty water. All I could furnish to her was 
an open boat, and a few lines, written upon dirty and wet 
paper, to General Gates, recommending her to his protection." 

Oct. 9, 1777. 

SiK, — Lady Harriet Ackland, a lady of the first distinction 
by family, rank, and personal virtues, is under such concern 
on account of Major Ackland, her husband, wounded and a 
prisoner in your hands, that I cannot refuse her request to 
commit her to your protection. 

Whatever general impropriety there may be in persons, 
acting in your situation or mine, to solicit favours, I cannot 
see the uncommon pre-eminence in every female grace and 
exaltation of character in this lady, and her very hard for- 
tune, without testifying that your attentions to her will lay 
me under obligations. 

I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 

M. G. Gates. J. Burgoyne. 

With this letter did this woman, who was of the most 
tender and delicate frame, habituated to all the soft elegan- 
cies and refined enjoyments that attend high birth and for- 



1777.] REVOLUTION. 403 



tune, and far advanced in a state in which the tenderest 
cares, always due to the sex, become indispensably necessary, 
in an open boat leave the camp of Burgoyne with a flag of 
truce for that of the enemy. The night was advanced before 
the boat reached the shore. Lady Harriet was immediately 
conveyed into the apartment of Major Henry Dearborn, since 
Major-General, who commanded the guard at that place, and 
every attention was paid her which her rank and situation 
demanded, and which circumstances permitted. Early in 
the morning, she was permitted to proceed in the boat to the 
camp, where General Gates, whose gallantry will not be de- 
nied, stood ready to receive her with due respect and cour- 
tesy. Having ascertained that Major Ackland had set out 
for Albany, Lady Harriet proceeded, by permission, to join 
him. Some time after. Major Ackland effected his exchange, 
and returned to England. The catastrophe of this tale is 
affecting. Ackland, after his return to England, procured a 
regiment, and at a dinner of military men, where the cour- 
age of the Americans was made a question, took the negative 
side with his usual decision. He was opposed, warmth en- 
sued, and he gave the lie direct to a Lieutenant Lloyd, fought 
him, and was shot through the head. Lady Harriet lost her 
senses, and continued deranged two years, after which she 
married Mr. Brudenell, who accompanied her from General 
Burgoyne's camp, when she sought her wounded husband on 
Hudson river. 

Sir Henry Clinton had embarked at New York about the 
beginning of October, to proceed up the Hudson, for the 
relief of and co-operation with Burgoyne. After taking seve- 
ral forts, burning villages, as usual, and committing other 
depredations, the British, hearing of the fate of their army 
of the north, and that Gates was marching upon them, 
returned with singular rapidity to New York. 

Gates, after the victory, despatched Wilkinson to carry the 
happy tidings to Congress. On being introduced into the 
hall, he said : " The whole British army has laid down arms 
at Saratoga ; our own, full of vigour and courage, expect your 
orders ; it is for your wisdom to decide where the country 



404 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



may still have need of their services." Congress voted thanks 
to Gates and the army, and presented him with a splendid 
gold medal, struck to commemorate this great victory. 

A delirium of joy spread over the country. The people 
now looked forward with confidence for France to acknow- 
ledge our independence, and form a treaty of alliance. Com- 
missioners from Congress had resided at the court of France 
for more than a year, urging the consummation so devoutly 
to be wished. On the 6th of February, 1778, the treaty was 
signed — " neither of the contracting powers to make war or 
peace without the formal consent of the other." 

Now let every one imagine just as much shouting at every 
city, town, village, and country-place, when these glorious 
news arrive, as is consistent with his own taste ; let him lis- 
ten to the glowing patriot speeches, made upon the occasion, 
and mark the thrilling effects of them ; let him rejoice in the 
irradiated countenances of men, women and children, whose 
hearts are beating with rapture; I say, let him do all this, 
for really we have no space left to describe effects, but merely 
the causes which produced them. Finding an opening here, 
we make a happy escape from this long campaign into 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Dangerous Situation of the British Army at Philadelphia — Attack on Forts 
Mifflin and Mercer — British repulsed — Death of Count Donop — Forts again 
afiacked by Water and taken — Sufferings of the Americans at Valley Forge — 
Desertion of Part of the Americans — Plot formed to supersede Washington — Its 
Failure — Letter of Washington to Governor Morris, on Foreign Influence. 

"Auribus teneo lupum." — Terence. 

That is, I hold a wolf by the ears. Dangerous to retain 
or to quit my hold. This was Howe's situation while hold- 
ing Philadelphia. 

It has been stated in a preceding chapter that the British 
had succeeded in removing one barrier in the Delaware, but 
it required the most desperate efforts to remove other obsta- 
cles before Howe's army could be supplied with provisions. 



1777-8.] REVOLUTION. 405 



A strong detachment, sent against fort Mifflin and fort Mer- 
cer, on the Delaware — the one commanded by Colonel Smith, 
the otlier by Colonel Greene — was repulsed with a loss of 400 
or 500 men, among whom was Colonel Donop, their com- 
mander, who was mortally wounded and taken prisoner. 
The vanquished retreated to Philadelphia. An unsuccessful 
attack was also made by water. But considering the import- 
ance of success, very extensive operations were commenced 
and carried on vigorously, when the Americans, after a fierce 
struggle, were obliged to abandon their forts. They de- 
stroyed their shipping, amounting to seventeen of different 
kinds, including two floating batteries and four fire-ships. 
Several ships had escaped up the river in the night. 

At the end of the campaign of 1777, Washington retired to 
Valley Forge, on the west side of the Schuylkill, about twenty 
miles from Philadelphia, where he concluded to establish his 
winter-quarters. On their march to Valley Forge, the sol- 
diers, being ill clothed, suffered indescribable hardships from 
the severity of the weather. Some dropped dead with the 
cold ; others, without shoes, left tracks of blood upon the ice, 
which cut their feet. In this deplorable condition they 
required something more than mere tents to shelter them 
from the inclement season ; and when they reached their 
place of destination, they commenced the construction of a 
sufficient number of log-huts, and finished them with mortar. 
Into these they crept, while cold and chilling blasts howled 
fiercely around them, and piles of drifted snow raised their 
summits proudly above their little habitations. Here they 
ponder deeply upon their country's wrongs, and their own 
sufferings and privations. Their thoughts go back to the 
quiet, peaceful, and happy scenes of hoine, and these reflec- 
tions make them almost frantic. Before this, their minds 
were employed with the campaign ; but now they have time 
to think of parents., brothers and sisters, or wives and chil- 
dren. — Are they well — are they sheltered from the winter — 
are their wants supplied — are they not now pronouncing oar 
names in the agony of despair ? These are feelings that sink 
deep into the soul, and draw tears from the eyes of the stern 



406 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777-8. 



warrior, who would not yield to mortal man, while in the 
defence of his own dear native home. And these were our 
fathers, who first opened the forest to the genial rays of the 
sun, and then hallowed the soil with freedom, dearly pur- 
chased with their toil, their treasure and their blood. May 
their souls rest in peace ! 

While the army of Washington was suffering not only from 
want of clothes and blankets, but actually from hunger, " a 
certain number, seduced by the royalists, deserted their 
colours and slunk off to the British army in Philadelphia ; 
but these were mostly Europeans, who had entered the con- 
tinental service. The true-born Americans, supported by 
their patriotism, as well as by their love and veneration for 
the commander-in-chief, manifested an unshaken persever- 
ance ; they chose rather to suffer all the extremes of famine 
and of frost, than to violate, in this perilous hour, the faith 
they had pledged to their country." — Botta. 

About the same time a plot was formed to supersede the 
commander-in-chief. "As for us, that respect for truth which 
ought to be our only guide, compels us to declare that the lead- 
ers of this combination, very little concerned for the public 
good, were immoderately so for their own, and that the aim 
of all their efforts was, to advance themselves and their 
friends at the expense of others. Among them, and of the 
first rank, was General Conway, one of the most wily and 
restless intriguers that passed in those times from Europe 
into America. Declaiming and vociferating, incessantly be- 
sieging all the members of Congress with his complaints ; he 
pretended that there existed no sort of discipline in the Ame- 
rican army ; that there were no two regiments w^hich ma- 
noeuvred alike, and not two officers in any regiment who 
could execute or command the military exercises ; in a word, 
he had said and done so much, that the Congress appointed 
him inspector and major-general. This appointment excited 
loud murmurs in the camp, and the brigadier-generals remon- 
strated. But this man, bent on attaining his purpose, and 
whose audacity knew no bounds, openly spoke of the com- 
mander-in-chief in the most derogatory terms ; and, as it 



1777-8.] REVOLUTION. 407 

always happens in times of adversity, he readily found those 
who believed them." This plot of foreign officers, of whom 
Gates himself was probably not guiltless, opened the eyes of 
Congress as to the motives by which most of these men were 
actuated ; and they sustained Washington. And so did the 
people, who threatened vengeance to Conway and others. 
As every American must feel a pride to know that his coun- 
trymen suffered for American freedom, while foreigners, with 
a few exceptions, were governed by different motives, we 
give a letter from Washington to Governor Morris, written 
some time after the period of which we are speaking, in 
which the dangerous influence of foreigners is powerfully set 
forth, by a man whose station and abilities amply qualified 
him to form a correct opinion of affairs relating to the army. 

White Plains, •24th July, 1778. 

Dear SiR,-^Whether you are indebted to me, or I to you, 
for a letter, I know not, nor is it a matter of much moment. 
The design of this is to touch, cursorily, upon the subject of 
very great importance to the well-being of these states ; much 
more so than will appear at first view. I mean the appoint- 
ment of so many foreigners to offices of high rank and trust in 
our service. 

The lavish manner in which rank has hitherto been bestowed 
on these gentlemen, will certainly be productive of one or 
the other of these two evils : — either to make it despicable in 
the eyes of Europe, or become a means of pouring them in 
upon us like a torrent, and adding to our present burden. 
But it is neither the expense nor trouble of them that I most 
dread. There is an evil more extensive in its nature, and 
fatal in its consequences, to be apprehended, and that is, the 
driving of all our own officers out of the service, and throwing, 
not only our army, but our military councils, entirely into the 
hands of foreigners. 

The officers, my dear sir, on whom you must depend for 
the defence of this cause, distinguished by length of service, 
their connections, property, and, in behalf of many, I may 
add, military merit, will not submit much, if any longer, to 



408 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1777. 



the unnatural promotion of men over thennt, who have nothing 
more than a little plausibility, unbounded pride and ambition, 
and a perseverance in application not to be resisted, but by 
uncommon firmness, to support their pretensions ; men who, 
in the first instance, tell you they wish for nothing more than 
the honour of serving in so glorious a cause as volunteers ; 
the next day solicit rank without pay; the day following 
want money advanced to them ; and, in the course of a week, 
want further promotion, and are not satisfied with any thing 
you can do for them. 

When I speak of officers not submitting to these appoint- 
ments, let me be understood to mean, that they have no more 
doubt of their right to resign, when they think themselves 
aggrieved, than they have of a power in Congress to appoint. 
Both being granted, then, the expediency and the policy of 
the measure remain to be considered, and whether it is jus- 
tice or prudence to promote these military fortune-hunters, at 
the hazard of your army. They may be divided into three 
classes ; namely, mere adventurers without recommendations, 
or recommended by persons who do not know how else to 
dispose of or provide for them ; men of great ambition, who 
would sacrifice every thing to promote their own personal 
glory ; or mere spies, who are sent here to obtain a" thorough 
knowledge of our situation and circumstances ; in the execu- 
tion of which, I am persuaded, some of them are faithful 
emissaries, as I do not believe a single matter escapes unno- 
ticed, or unadvised at a foreign court. 

I could say a great deal on this subject, but will add no 
more at present. I am led to give you this trouble, at this 
time, by a very handsome certificate, shown to me yesterday, 
in favour of M. Neuville, written (I believe) by himself, and 
subscribed by General Parsons, designed, as I am informed, 
for a foundation of the superstructure of a brigadiership. 

Baron Steuben, I now find, is also wanting to quit his in- 
spectorship for a command in the line. This will be produc- 
tive of much discontent to the brigadiers. In a word, although 
I think the baron an excellent officer, I do most devoutly wish 
we had not a single foreigner among us, except the Marquis 



1778.] REVOLUTION. 409 



de Lafayette, who acts upon very different principles from 
those which govern the rest. Adieu. 

I am most sincerely yours, &c. 

This letter, although it was addressed to Mr. Morris, in 
his private capacity, was intended to produce an impression 
in Congress ; and we have every reason to believe that its 
effect was of the most beneficial character. 

Those few foreigners who fought in our revolution for the 
love of freedom, are the more to be admired and praised, from 
the fact, that it requires men of the most exalted minds to 
throw off the impressions which a foreign education and 
foreign habits produce, however erroneous; and to adopt 
opinions, and support principles diametrically opposite to 
those advocated in their own country. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Campaign of 1778 — Operations of the Britisli — Massacre of American Troops — 
Daring Exploits of American armed Vessels — Howe resigns — Succeeded by Sir 
Henry Clinton — Alliance of America with France — Plan of Operations of British 
Ministry — British evacuate Philadelphia — Pursued by Washington — Battle at 
Freehold — 'British retreat to New York. 

" Now I behold the chiefs, in the pride of their former deeds ! Their 
souls are kindled at the battles of old ; at the actions of other times. Their 
eyes are flames of fire. They roll in search of the foes of the land. Their 
mighty hands are on their swords. Lightning pours from their sides of 
steel. They come like streams from the mountains ; each rushes roaring 
from his hill. 

"Thin thongs, bright-studded with gems, bend on the stately necks of 
the steeds. The steeds that like wreaths of mist fly over the streamy vales ! 
The wildness of deer is in their course, the strength of eagles descending 
on their prey. Their noise is like the blasts of winter. * * » 

" Morning rose. The foe were fled, like the departure of mist." 

The spring of 1778 having returned, the British began to 
scour the country with their light troops, who, falling in with 
a party of Americans, one day, at the bridges of Quinton and 
Hancock, barbarously murdered them while crying for quar- 

52 2^ 



410 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1778. 

ters. The enemy also attempted to surprise Lafayette, en- 
camped at Barren Hill, but the shrewd and skilful youngster 
baffled all their efforts. 

That union of the active courage of the French, with the 
passive courage of the English, in the Americans, which so 
pre-eminently distinguished our navy in the late war, already 
began to manifest itself in many a nautical conflict. Five 
hundred English vessels had already been captured with very 
valuable cargoes ; thus inflicting a severe blow upon the 
British commerce, one of the great resources of the nation, 
enabling them to continue the war. Even the coasts of Great 
Britain were not secure from the maritime expeditions of the 
bold and enterprising sons of America. 

Sir William Howe had resigned his office of commander- 
in-chief, and returned to Europe, while Sir Henry Clinton, 
his successor, had arrived at Philadelphia, to take charge of 
the British army. 

On the alliance of France with America, the British Par- 
liament resolved to evacuate Philadelphia, the possession of 
which had cost them two arduous and bloody campaigns to 
obtain. It was apprehended that the French fleet would 
appear in the Delaware and endanger the British army at 
Philadelphia, or strike a blow at the West Indies. In either 
case. New York was a more eligible situation than the one 
now occupied, especially as the design of the British ministry 
was now to carry on the war in the south, after their grand 
scheme of the north had flitted away like a fairy vision of 
some golden dream, when the mind awakes to truth and 
soberness. 

To resume our figure of the opening of the last chapter, 
Clinton let go the wolf, which Howe had given him to hold, 
and it bit him grievously, as we shall perceive. 

As the fleet of Lord Howe was still in the Delaware, it 
was anticipated that the army would be transported by sea. 
Apprehensive, however, of meeting a superior French fleet, it 
was resolved to retreat through New Jersey. 

On the morning of the 18th of June, the army proceeded 
to the point of land, below Philadelphia, which is formed by 



1778.] REVOLUTION. 411 

the junction of the Delaware and the Schuylkill, where Clin- 
ton and Howe had made the necessary dispositions, with the 
boats and vessels of the navy, for passing the river ; and at 
ten o'clock in the forenoon the British army was encamped 
on the Jersey shore. The Americans entered the city of 
Philadelphia before the enemy were entirely out of it. 

*' It is a fine fox-chase, my boys !" 

This exclamation of the hero of our tale, on a former occa- 
sion, has probably not yet been forgotten, and now the great 
huntsman prepares for a fox-chase on a grand scale. He lets 
slip the dogs of war, and already they are barking on the 
hills of New Jersey. 

** Far from the tumult fled the roe, 
Close in her covert cower'd the doe, 
The falcon, from her cairn on high, 
Cast on the rout a wondering eye, 
Till, far beyond her piercing ken. 
The hurricane had swept the glen. 
**•♦•♦ 
The owlets started from their dream, 
The eagles answer'd with a scream." 

The preparations for this retreat had been made with as 
much secrecy as possible, but intelligence of them was con- 
veyed to Washington, who detached General Maxwell with 
a brigade into New Jersey. He also sent General Dickinson 
to assemble the militia of that state — to break down the 
bridges ; to break up the roads ; to fell trees, and plant them 
in abattis, and, by every means in their power, to harass the 
enemy and impede their progress, until he could bring the 
main army across the Delaware and fall upon their rear. 
Washington despatched Wayne, Cadwallader, Dickinson, and 
Morgan, to harass the enemy ; and that they might act simul- 
taneously, he placed them all under the command of Lafayette, 
while the commander-in-chief, who had left Valley Forge the 
same day that the British left Philadelphia, and crossed the 
Delaware, followed at a little distance. Morgan was hang- 
ing on the right flank like an incubus, and Dickson on the 
left ; and, as things were now fast verging to a crisis, our 



412 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1778. 



chief commander ordered General Lee, who had lately been 
exchanged for Prescott, to press forward with two brigades. 
As the senior, he took the command of the vanguard from 
Lafayette. 

On the 27th of June, we see the enemy encamped upon the 
heights near Freehold court-house, in Monmouth county, sixty- 
four miles from Philadelphia. Seeing himself very closely pur- 
sued. General Clinton knew that a battle was inevitable, and 
prepared for it, by sending his baggage from the rear to the 
van — from the charge of Cornwallis to that of Knyphausen, 
while himself, with the van-guard, would keep the Ameri- 
cans in check, until the baggage reached the hills of Middle- 
town, from which a retreat could be effected in safety to New 
York. 

The following day, just before rosy-fingered Aurora opened 
the golden portals of the east, Knyphausen descended from 
the heights into a valley, about three miles long, and one mile 
wide, with his baggage, on his way to Middletown, while the 
division with which Clinton remained, did not move till near 
eight o'clock, so as not to press too close upon the baggage ; 
occupying a line of march nearly twelve miles long ! Soon 
after the rear of the enemy left the heights, the advanced 
corps of the American army descended impetuously into the 
plain, from the same heights the British had just left, to attack 
them. Lee, who had been ordered to make the attack, on the 
first charge fell back, and fled. But Washington, on hearing 
the firing, left baggage, knapsacks and all, behind, hurried to 
the scene, and restored the fortune of the day. His terrible 
reproaches fell on the ears of Lee like a death-knell, and even 
he made great efforts to rally his troops and retrieve his 
honour. Lee was not fighting for his country ; and his con- 
duct, upon more than one occasion, but too plainly indicated 
that his object was to counteract the plans of Washington, to 
injure his reputation, and obtain the command of the American 
armies himself. 

But the thunderer of the scene has come ; he disposes his 
troops in a neighbouring wood, and partly upon a hill on the 
left, from which Sterling poured his fiery indignation from 



1778.] REVOLUTION. 413 

the cannon's mouth. The infantry were drawn up in the 
centre, at the foot of the hill, and in front of the enemy. 
Greene advanced with the right wing, but being apprized 
that Lee had retreated again, with the vanguard, he took a 
strong position on the right of Lord Sterling. Here he stands, 
the genius of the hill ; orders his artillery to be posted, and 
then he roars. The next hill, and the third, and the fourth, 
catch the terrible sound and roar again. The enemy, finding 
themselves thus cruelly arrested in what they at first be- 
lieved to be a victorious career, then attempted to turn the 
left flank of the Americans, but here they were repulsed by 
the light infantry which Washington had posted there. They 
now made an effort to surround the right of the Americans, 
but Greene was there, with many a brave son of America, 
who bid the cannon speak for freedom in deafening eloquence, 
which forced the British to retreat. As soon as Washington 
saw them give way, he ordered them to be charged vigorausly 
by the infantry, under General Wayne. The English turned 
their backs, crossed the ravine, and formed anew. Night 
drops her sombre curtain and hides the scene. The action 
ceases, but the troops are *kept under arms, to renew battle 
next morning. But, taking advantage of the night, the enemy 
retreated towards New York. The loss of the Americans 
was 8 officers and 61 privates, killed, and about 160 wounded ; 
that of the English, in killed, wounded, and missing, was 358 
men, including officers; 100 were taken prisoners, and 1000 
deserted during the retreat. 

Overcome by the excessive heat, 59 British soldiers fell 
dead without a wound, and several Americans died from the 
same cause. 

Washington greatly commended his troops for the valour 
they had displayed, and particularly General Wayne, the 
lightning of whose steel was a terror to his foes ; and Congress 
voted thanks to the troops and the officers. 

General Lee was arrested and brought before a court-mar- 
tial, charged with disobedience to orders ; for having made an 
unnecessary, disorderly, and shameful retreat ; and for dis- 
respect to the commander-in-chief in two letters. The court- 

__ 



414 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1778. 

martial found him guilty, expunging, however, the epithet 
shameful, and sentenced him to be suspended for one year. 
Congress, with some hesitation, confirmed the sentence. Lee 
was a great man, but he fell a victim to his ambition, and 
was suffered to die, in comparative obscurity, by the Ame- 
rican people. It should, however, in justice to General Lee, 
be stated that he had some able defenders, who believed that 
his punishment was a hardship, and that he fell a victim to 
his ungovernable temper rather than to any ambitious designs. 

On the 1st of July, Washington marched his army towards 
the Hudson, to secure the passages of the mountains, leaving, 
however, some detachments of light troops in New Jersey to 
repress the incursions of the enemy, and to pick up deserters. 

On the 30th of June the British army had arrived at Mid- 
dletown, not far from Sandy Hook. The fleet of Howe, from 
the Delaware, was there, ready to receive it. Sandy Hook 
had hitherto been a peninsula, but the preceding winter, a 
violent storm and inundation had disjoined it from the main 
land, and converted it into an island. A bridge of boats was 
constructed over this new strait, and the army passed to 
Sandy Hook island, whence it was conveyed by the fleet to 
New York. 

For a time the Americans had been compelled to retreat 
before superior numbers, but, like a stream turned back upon 
itself, they had gathered strength, and at last they came like 
a mighty flood, and swept the enemy to the sea. 

Having made no progress in the American war, the king 
and his ministers had occasion to pray for being defended 

"From reveries so airy, from the toil 
Of dropping buckets into empty wells, 
And growing old in drawing nothing up !" 

And should any marvel at their ill success, while we have 
our finger in the button-hole of Cowper's coat, we ask him 
for another quotation, to remove the diflSculty, and close this 
chapter. , 

"Whose freedom is by sufferance, and at will 
Of a superior, he is never free. 



nl 



1778.] REVOLUTION. 415 

Who lives, and is not weary of a life 

Exposed to manacles, deserves them well. 

The state that strives for liberty, though foil'd, 

And forced to abandon what she bravely sought, 

Deserves at least applause for her attempt, 

And pity for her loss. Bui that's a cause 

Not often unsuccessful: power usurped 

Is weakness, when opposed ; conscious of wrong, 

' Tis pusillanimous and prone to flight. 

But slaves that once conceive the glowing thought 

Of freedom, in that hope itself possess 

All that the contest calls for ; spirit, strength. 

The scorn of danger, and united hearts ; 

The surest presage of the good they seek.^^ 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Arrival of Couitt D'Estaing — Attack by the French Fleet on Newport — Admi- 
ral Lord Howe sails to its Defence — Both Fleets dispersed by a Storm — D'Estaing 
sails for Boston — American Forces abandon the Enterprise, and retreat— British 
pursue them — Battle at Quaker Hill — Enemy repulsed — General Clinton arrives 
for Relief of Newport — Returns to New York. 

" List, ye landsmen, all to me." 

On the 8th of July, a short time after Lord Howe left the 
Delaware, the Count D'Estaing, having arrived from France, 
entered the mouth of the river with a powerful armament, to 
co-operate with the American army, to destroy both the Bri- 
tish army and fleet. Having received intelligence that the 
enemy was gone, the count put to sea anew, and on the 11th 
appeared at Sandy Hook, in sight of the British squadron ; 
but, apprehensive that his large ships would not pass over 
the bar, in the mouth of the bay of New York, he withdrew 
to the coast of New Jersey, about four miles from Sandy 
Hook, where he concerted an expedition, w^ith the American 
generals, against Rhode Island, which had been in possession 
of the British since December, 1776. 

The fleet of D'Estaing consisted of twelve ships of the line ; 
two of eighty guns, six of seventy-four, and four large 
frigates. After leaving Howe, with an inferior naval force. 



416 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1778. 

for some time in constant apprehension of being attacked, he 
sailed for Newport, Rhode Island, to act in concert with 
troops, under General Sullivan, destined for the expedition. 
The militia of New England were assembled ; General 
Greene was sent to Rhode Island, his native state, to arouse 
the inhabitants ; and an army of 10,000 men was soon ready 
to attack Newport by land. 

In the meantime, General Pigot, who commanded in Rhode 
Island, was reinforced from New York. His garrison now 
amounted to 6000 men. The part of the town towards the 
sea was fortified with great expedition; several vessels of 
transport were sunk, to obstruct the approaches to the im- 
portant batteries ; while others were burned, to prevent them 
from falling into the hands of the French. 

On the 29th of July, Count D'Estaing anchored about five 
miles from Newport. General Sullivan not having received 
all the militia he expected, a delay of some days was occa- 
sioned; but, on the 8th of August, the preparations being 
completed, and the wind favourable, the French squadron 
entered the harbour of Newport, discharged its broadsides, 
and received the enemy's fire from their batteries on shore, 
without much effect on either side. The next day, signals 
announced the approach of the whole British squadron, under 
Lord Howe, which, though reinforced, was still inferior to 
that of the French. The defence of the narrow entrance of 
the harbour, however, was so formidable, that Howe con- 
cluded that it was impossible for him to afford any aid to the 
besieged army. Every thing promised success to the allies, 
when Count D'Estaing, whose heart, like Nebuchadnezzar's 
furnace, was heated seven times hotter than it was wont to 
be heated, on seeing a British fleet, sailed out of the harbour 
to attack it. The French admiral having the weather-gage, 
Howe declined coming to action, and both fleets manoeuvred 
all day — the one to gain, and the other to retain that advan- 
tage. On the 11th, the wind still being unfavourable, Howe 
resolved, notwithstanding, to meet the French. The fleets 
were disposed in order of battle, ready to commence a close 
action, when a violent storm arose, which not only separated 



1778.] REVOLUTION. 417 

the two fleets, but dispersed the ships of each, and almost 
tore them to pieces. The 

" glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form 

Glasses itself in tempests," 

began to heave its bosom like a thing of life, and the waves 
resumed their sway over the wide waste of waters, and the 
winds were heard in the distance. The cries of the sailors, 
the flapping of the sails, the whistling and moaning of the 
blasts, conspire to make every thing appear dismal in the 
extreme. You look above, and all is dark and fearful — the 
clouds roll in swift and heavy masses along the concav6, and 
the sailor, clinging to the sails as he binds them to the quiver- 
ing yards, seems every moment ready to be shaken from his 
hold. The waves now swell into billows, threatening to in- 
vade the sky. You look around, but the Rightfulness of the 
scene is increased. The dark clouds give an appearance to 
the sea black as ink. The immense billows, tumbling with a 
jar against the vessel's side, and with a crash floating over 
the deck ; the staggering, plunging, and rolling motion of the 
vessel, every moment seeming as if it would drink in the 
waters and sink ; all are alike fearful and sublime. 

The mountain billows are now sweeping around and over 
us in fearful rapidity, and dashing against the vessel with 
foaming fury, while the spray begins to fly from her bows, 
like the foam of a great cataract. 

Darkness comes over the scene, and reigns in fearful ma- 
jesty. The portentous screeching of the sea-birds adds terror 
to the scene. The rage and fury of the storm increases ; the 
ships are hurled with an appalling velocity through the foam- 
ing spray ; the rattling of the blocks overhead is blended 
with the voices of the commanders and sailors ; the sails are 
torn from the ropes and scattered in fragments, the sport of 
the winds. To these terrors are added the increased roaring 
and bellowing of the waves, and the howling of the tempest- 
uous winds, like the roaring and howling of ten thousand 
wild beasts, mingled with the dreadful voices of some mighty 
spirits ruling the deep. The rain, the hail, the glare of light- 
ning, displaying the flashing crests of foam, and the crashing 

53 



418 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1778. 



peals of thunder, which as the rage of the tempest increases, 
are heard no more amid the terrible din of the sea, roaring 
louder than thunder, form a scene, the grandeur and awful 
sublimity of which no language can paint. 

Heaven and earth seem to be at war ; the elements of the 
sky threaten destruction to the sea, and the sea is hurling 
foaming mountains at the sky. The vessel is borne aloft by 
one of those mountains of water, lit up by the lightning's 
glare, which soon break into masses of living fire, revealing 
all the vast commotion of the elements, startling the mind 
with terror, astonishment, and admiration — then all is veiled 
in darkness again. The vessel trembles for a moment upon 
a fearful height, then plunges down — down into a frightful 
chasm, in which, for a time, she appears to be engulfed, but, 
like some huge monster of the deep, she labours, and groans, 
and leaps upon the billows again. The storm increases. See 
how the Alpine mountains of water roll on ; now we are 
rising higher and higher, and then again we plunge into a 
great valley, and the mountains threaten to close over our 
heads. The masts, with portions of sails torn into ribbons, 
now come down like an avalanche ; the helm is abandoned, 
and we are hurried on, the sport of the winds and the waves. 

Such was the storm that dispersed the two fleets, all except 
the thunder, which we put in to fill up the picture, a-s we 
once had the pleasure to witness it, in a thunder-storm, near 
the banks of Newfoundland. 

However extravagant the description of this storm may 
appear to those who have not seen a storm at sea, it will soon 
appear that we have not exaggerated. 

The tempest, which had lasted for forty-eight hours, dam- 
aged the ships of both fleets so much, that they were compelled 
to put into port to repair. The French admiral's ship, the 
Languedoc, one of the largest vessels, lost her rudder and all 
her masts, and floated entirely at the mercy of the winds and 
the currents. In this plight, she fell in with an English vessel 
of the scattered fleet, of only fifty guns, but less damaged. 
A vigorous attack was made upon the wreck, which would 
have been captured but for the approach of night. The 



1778.] REVOLUTION. 419 



folloAving morning a number of French vessels appeared, and 
gave the British captain chase, without being able to come 
up with him. The same day another English vessel fell in 
with a French ship, with only her mainmast standing. They 
were also separated by the coming of night, and the appear- 
ance of several French ships, the next morning, caused the 
enemy to withdraw. The British vessels returned to Sandy 
Hook and New York, and the French to the harbour of 
Newport. 

Here Count d'Estaing soon informed General Sullivan that 
his intentions were to sail to Boston, to repair his injuries, 
according to his instructions, which were, that if he should 
meet with any disaster, or if a superior fleet should appear 
on the coast, he should sail for that port. The late storm, 
and the approach of Admiral Byron with reinforcements, 
from England, induced him to take this resolution. 

Generals Greene and Lafayette, convinced that his departure 
would be the ruin of the expedition, made every possible 
effort to persuade the Count to remain : but all was fruitless. 
He got under sail on the 22d of August, and was soon 
anchored in the harbour of Boston. 

Finding themselves deserted by their allies, the militia 
disbanded, until the American army, in Rhode Island, was 
reduced from 10,000 men to about half that number. The 
American generals found it necessary to retreat. They were 
closely pursued by the British and Hessians, who coming up 
in great force, in the environs of Quaker Hill, a hot contest 
ensued, in which many fell on both sides, but the enemy were 
at length repulsed. 

The day after the retreat. General Clinton arrived with 
4000 men, and a light squadron, for the relief of Newport. 
Finding the place secure, he returned to New York. 



420 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1778. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Dreadful Barbarities committed by the Indians — Massacre of Wyoming. 

" They fell, like the young oaks which stood alone on the hill. The 
traveller saw the lovely trees, and wondered how they grew so lonely. 
The blast of the desert came and laid their green heads low. Next day 
he returned ; but they were withered, and the heath was hare." — Ossian. 

The savages took a more active part than ever in the cam- 
paign of this year. Though they had been intimidated by 
the success of General Gates, and had sent him congratula- 
tions for himself and the United States, the intrigues and 
presents of the British agents had not lost their power over 
them. Moreover^ the emigrant colonists, who had retired 
among these barbarians, excited them continually by instiga- 
tions, which, together with their natural thirst for blood and 
pillage, determined them, without scruple, to make incursions 
upon the northern frontiers, where they spread terror and 
desolation. The most ruthless chiefs that guided them in 
these sanguinary expeditions, were Colonel Butler, who had 
already signalized himself in this war, and a certain Brandt, 
born of mixed blood, the most ferocious being ever produced 
by human nature, often too prodigal of similar monsters. 
They spared neither age, nor sex, nor condition, nor even 
their own kindred ; everywhere, indiscriminately, they car- 
ried devastation and death. The knowledge which the refu- 
gees had of the country, and the insulated position of the 
habitations, scattered here and there in the wilderness ; the 
distance from the seat of government, and the necessity of 
employing the national force in other renio*o parts, offered 
the Indians every facility for executing their enterprises, and 
retiring with impunity. No means had hitherto been found 
of repressing the inroads of so cruel an enemy. 

But, in the midst of this general devastation, there hap- 
pened an event which, perhaps, would be found without ex- 
ample in the history of inhuman men. Inhabitants of Con- 



1778.] REVOLUTION. 421 

necticut had planted, on the eastern branch of the Susque- 
hanna, towards the extremity of Pennsylvania, and upon the 
road of Oswego, the settlement of Wyoming. Populous and 
flourishing, its prosperity was the subject of admiration. It 
consisted of eight townships, each containing a square of five 
miles, beautifully situated on both sides of the river. The 
mildness of the climate answered to the fertility of the soil. 
The inhabitants were strangers alike to excessive wealth, 
which elates and depraves, and to poverty, which discourages 
and degrades. All lived in a happy mediocrity, frugal of 
their own, and coveting nothing from others. Incessantly 
occupied in rural toils, they avoided idleness, and all the 
vices of which it is the source. In a word, this little coun- 
try presented in reality the image of those fabulous times 
which the poets have described under the name of the Golden 
Age. But their domestic felicity was no counterpoise to the 
zeal with which they were animated for the common cause ; 
they took up arms and flew to succour their country. It is 
said they had furnished to the army no less than a thousand 
soldiers, a number truly prodigious for so feeble a population, 
and so happy in their homes. Yet, notwithstanding the 
drain of all this vigorous youth, the abundance of harvests 
sustained no diminution. Their crowded granaries, and pas- 
tures replenished with fat cattle, offered an exhaustless 
resource to the American army. 

" But neither so many advantages, nor even the retired situ- 
ation of these unfortunate colonists, could exempt them from 
the baneful influence of party spirit. Although the tories, as 
they called them, were not so numerous as the partizans of 
liberty, yet they challenged attention by the arrogance of 
their character and the extent of their pretensions. Hence, 
not only families were seen armed against families, but even 
sons aided against their fathers ; brothers against brothers, 
and, at last, wives against husbands. The tories were exas- 
perated at their losses in the incursions they had made in 
company with the savages in the preceding campaigns ; but 
that which envenomed them the most was, that several indi- 
viduals of the same party, who, having quitted their habita- 

_ 



422 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1778. 



tions, were come to claim hospitality, then so much in honour 
among the Americans, and particularly at Wyoming, had 
been arrested as suspected persons, and sent to take their 
trial in Connecticut. Others had been expelled from the 
colony. Thus hatred became continually more and more 
rancorous. The tories swore revenge ; they coalesced with 
the Indians. The time was favourable, as the youth of Wy- 
oming were with the army. In order the better to secure 
success, and to surprise their enemies before they should 
think of standing upon their defence, they resorted to artifice. 
They pretended the most friendly dispositions, while they 
meditated only war and vengeance. 

"A few weeks before they purposed to execute their horrible 
enterprise, they sent several messengers, charged with pro- 
testations of their earnest desire to cultivate peace. These 
perfidies lulled the inhabitants of Wyoming into a deceitful 
security, while they procured the tories and savages the 
means of concerting with their partisans, and of observing 
the immediate state of the colony. Notwithstanding the 
solemn assurances of the Indians, the colonists, as it often 
happens when great calamities are about to fall on a people, 
seemed to have a presentiment of their approaching fate. 
[This is mere slang — their fears arising from opinion.] They 
wrote to Washington, praying him to send them immediate aid. 
Their despatches did not reach him ; they were intercepted 
by the Pennsylvania loyalists ; and they would, besides, have 
arrived too late. The savages had already made their ap- 
pearance upon the frontiers of the colony ; the plunder they 
had made there was of little importance, but the cruelties they 
had perpetrated were aflfrightful ; the mournful prelude of 
those more terrible scenes which were shortly to follow ! 

"About the commencement of the month of July, the In- 
dians suddenly appeared in force upon the banks of the Sus- 
quehanna. They were headed by the John Butler and Brandt 
already named, with other chiefs of their nation, distinguished 
by their extreme ferocity in the preceding expeditions. This 
troop amounted in all to 1600 men, of whom no less than a 
fourth were Indians, and the rest tories, disguised and painted 



1778.] REVOLUTION. 423 



^ 



to resemble them. The officers, however, wore the uniforms 
of their rank, and had the appearance of regulars. The 
colonists of Wyoming, finding their friends so remote, and 
their enemies so near, had constructed for their security four 
forts, in which, and upon different points of the frontier, they 
had distributed about 500 men. The whole colony was placed 
under the command of Zebulon Butler, cousin of John, a man 
who, with some courage, was totally devoid of capacity. He 
was even accused of treachery ; but this imputation is not 
proved. It is at least certain, that one of the forts which 
stood nearest to the frontier, was intrusted to soldiers infected 
with the opinions of the tories, and who gave it up, without 
resistance, at the first approach of the enemy. The second, 
on being vigorously assaulted, surrendered at discretion. 
The savages spared, it is true, the women and children, but 
butchered all the rest, without exception. Zebulon withdrew, 
with all his people, into the principal fort, called Kingston. 
The old men, the women, the children, in a word, all that 
were unable to bear arms, repaired thither in throngs, and 
uttering lamentable cries, as to the last refuge where any 
hope of safety remained. The position was susceptible of 
defence ; and if Zebulon had held firm, he might have hoped 
to withstand the enemy until the arrival of succours. But 
John Butler was lavish of promises, in order to draw him out, 
in which he succeeded, by persuading him that if he would 
consent to a parley in the open field, the siege would soon be 
raised, and every thing accommodated. John retired, in fact, 
with all his corps : Zebulon afterwards marched out to the 
place appointed for the conference, at a considerable distance 
from the fort ; from motives of caution, he took with him 400 
men, well armed, being nearly the whole strength of his gar- 
rison. If this step was not dictated by treachery, it must, at 
least, be attributed to a very strange simplicity. Having 
come to the spot agreed on, Zebulon found no living being 
there. Reluctant to return without an interview, he advanced 
towards the foot of a mountain, at a still greater distance 
from the fort, hoping he might there find some person to 
confer with. The further he proceeded in this dismal soli- 



424 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1778. 



tude, the more he had occasion to remark that no token 
appeared of the presence or vicinity of human creatures. 
But far from halting, as if impelled by an irresistible destiny, 
[or unmitigated stupidity,] he continued his march. The 
country, meanwhile, began to be overshadowed by thick 
forests : at length, in a winding path, he perceived a flag, 
which seemed to wave him on. The individual who bore it, 
as if afraid of treachery from his side, retired as he advanced, 
still making the same signals. But already the Indians, who 
knew the country, profiting of the obscurity of the woods, 
had completely surrounded him. The unfortunate American, 
without suspicion of the peril he was in, continued to press 
forward, in order to assure the traitors that he would not 
betray them. He was awakened but too soon from this 
dream of security; in an instant the savages sprung from 
their ambush, and fell upon him with hideous yells. 

" He formed his little troop into a compact column, and 
showed more presence of mind in danger than he had mani- 
fested in the negotiation. Though surprised, the Americans 
exhibited such vigour and resolution that the advantage was 
rather on their side, when a soldier, either through treachery 
or cowardice, cried out aloud, " The colonel has ordered a 
retreat.^' The Americans immediately break, the savages 
leap in among the ranks, and a horrible carnage ensues. 
The fugitives fall by missiles, the resisting by clubs and toma- 
hawks. The wounded overturn those that are not ; the dead 
and the dying are heaped together promiscuously. Happy 
those who expire the soonest ! The savages reserve the liv- 
ing for tortures ! and the infuriate tories, if other arms fail 
them, mangle the prisoners with their nails ! Never was rout 
so deplorable ; never was massacre accompanied with so 
many horrors. Nearly all the Americans perished ; about 
sixty escaped from the butchery, and, with Zebulon, made 
their way good to a redoubt upon the other bank of the Sus- 
quehanna. 

" The conquerors invested Kingston anew, and, to dismay 
the relics of the garrison by the most execrable spectacle, 
they hurled into the place above two hundred scalps, still reek- 



1779.] REVOLUTION. 425 



ing with blood, of their slaughtered brethren. Colonel Denni- 
son, who commanded the fort, seeing the impossibility of de- 
fence, sent out a flag to inquire of Butler what terms would 
be allowed the garrison, on surrendering the fort ? He an- 
swered, with all the fellness of his inhuman character, in a 
single word — the hatchet. Reduced to this dreadful extre- 
mity, the colonel still made what resistance he could. At 
length, having lost almost all his soldiers, he surrendered at 
discretion. The savages entered the fort, and began to drag 
out the vanquished, who, knowing the hands they were in, 
expected no mercy. But, impatient of the tedious process 
of murder in detail, the barbarians afterwards bethought 
themselves of enclosing the men, women and children pro- 
miscuously in the houses and barracks, to which they set fire 
and consumed all within, listening, delighted, to the moans 
and shrieks of the expiring multitude. 

" The fort of Wilkesbarre still remained in the power of the 
colonists of Wyoming. The victors presented themselves 
before it ; those within, hoping to find mercy, surrendered at 
discretion, and without resistance. But if opposition exas- 
perated these ferocious men, or rather these tigers, insatiable 
of human blood, submission did not soften them. Their rage 
was principally exercised upon the soldiers of the garrison, 
all of whom they put to death, with a barbarity ingenious in 
tortures. As for the rest, men, women, and children, who 
appeared to them not to merit any special attention, thev 
burned them as before, in the houses and barracks. The 
forts being fallen into their hands, the barbarians proceeded, 
without obstacle, to the devastation of the country. They 
employed at once, fire, sword, and all instruments of destruc- 
tion. The crops of every description were consigned to the 
flames. The habitations, granaries, and other constructions, 
the fruit of years of human industry, sunk in ruin under the 
destructive strokes of these cannibals. But who will believe 
that their fury, not yet satiated upon human creatures, was 
also wreaked upon the very beasts ? That they cut out the 
tongues of the horses and cattle, and left them to wander in 
the midst of those fields lately so luxuriant, and now in deso- 

54 2l* 



426 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1778-9. 



lation, seeming to enjoy the torments of their lingering 
death ? 

" We have long hesitated whether we ought to relate par- 
ticular instances of this demoniac cruelty ; the bare remem- 
brance of them makes us shudder. But on reflecting that 
these examples may deter good [rulers] from war, and citi- 
zens from civil discord, we have deemed it useful to record 
them. Captain Bedlock having been stripped naked, the 
savages stuck sharp pine splinters into all parts of his body; 
and then a heap of knots of the same wood being piled round 
him, the whole was set on fire, and his two companions, the 
Captains Ranson and Durgee, thrown alive into the flames. 
The tories appeared to vie ivith, and even to surpass, the sav- 
ages in harharity. One of them, whose mother had married a 
second husband, butchered her with his own hand, and after- 
wards massacred his father-in-law, his own sisters, and their 
infants in the cradle. Another killed his own father, and 
exterminated all his family. A third imbrued his hands in 
the blood of his brothers, his sisters, his brother-in-law, and 
his father-in-law. 

"These were a part only of the horrors perpetrated by the 
loyalists and Indians, at the excision of Wyoming. Other 
atrocities, if possible, still more abominable, we leave in si- 
lence. 

"Those who had survived the massacres were no less worthy 
of commiseration ; they were women and children, who had 
escaped to the woods at the time their husbands and fathers 
expired under the blows of the barbarians. Dispersed and 
wandering in the forests, as chance and fear directed their 
steps, without clothes, without food, without guide, these 
defenceless fugitives suffered every degree of distress. Seve- 
ral of the women were delivered alone in the woods, at a 
great distance from every possibility of relief. The most ro- 
bust and resolute alone escaped ; the others perished ; their 
bodies and those of their hapless infants became the prey of 
wild beasts. Thus the most flourishing colony then existing 
in America was totally erased. 

" The destruction of Wyoming, and the cruelties which 



1779.] REVOLUTION. 427 

accompanied it, filled all the inhabitants of America with 
horror, with compassion, and with indignant fury. They 
fully purposed, on a future day, to exact a condign vengeance ; 
but in the present state of the war, it was not in their power 
to execute their intent immediately." 

The day of retribution came, and the savages felt the fire 
and sword of a people whom their outrages had inspired with 
unrelenting fury, almost as savage as their own. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Campaign once more opened in the South — Savannah taken by the British — 
D'Estaing arrives on the coast of Georgia — Attack on Savannah by the combined 
American and French Forces — They are repulsed — D'Estaing sails for France — 
Daring Enterprise executed by Colonel John White. 

" Wo for the land thou tramplest o'er, 
Death-dealing fiend of war !" 

The south, which had been exempt from hostile operations 
ever since the enemy made the unsuccessful attempt upon 
Charleston, was destined once more to become the theatre of 
war. Georgia being the weakest state in the south, prudence 
dictated to an enemy, becoming rather cautious, to make that 
the first point of attack. In November, Colonel Campbell 
was despatched from New York, by Clinton, with 2500 men, 
against Savannah, which fell into the hands of the enemy, 
together with the state itself, after a short resistance made 
by the American General Howe, with a force consisting of 
only 600 continentals and a few hundred militia. 

In the succeeding year, an attempt was made to recover 
Savannah. Count D'Estaing, who had sailed to the West 
Indies, to strike at the British power there, returned to co- 
operate with the Americans. In September, 1779, he ar- 
rived so unexpectedly upon the coast of Georgia, that a Bri- 
tish vessel of fifty guns, and three frigates, fell into his hands. 
General Lincoln, who had been appointed by Congress to 
take charge of the army of the south, on receiving intelli- 
gence that D'Estaing had arrived, marched to co-operate 



428 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1779. 



with him. Before the arrival of Lincoln, the Count had de- 
manded the surrender of the tow^n. General Prevost, the 
English commander, requested a day to consider upon the 
matter, which was very imprudently granted. A reinforce- 
ment arrived, and the enemy bid defiance to the Count. On 
the arrival of Lincoln, preparations were made for a siege. 
At length an assault was made by D'Estaing and Lincoln, 
in which they suflfered so severely, that the siege was raised, 
and the count re-embarked and left America. 

" While the siege of Savannah was pending, one of the 
most extraordinary enterprises ever related in history, one, 
indeed, which nothing but the respectability of the testimony 
could have prevented our considering as marvellous, occurred. 
It was an enterprise conceived and executed by Colonel John 
White, of the Georgia line. A Captain French, of Delancey's 
first battalion, was posted, with 100 men, British regulars, on 
the Ogeechee river, about twenty-five miles from Savannah. 
There lay also, at the same place, five armed vessels, the 
largest mounting fourteen guns, and having on board, alto- 
gether, forty-one men. Colonel White, with Captain Etholm, 
three soldiers, and his own servant, approached this post on 
the evening of the 30th of September, kindled a number of 
fires, arranging them in the manner of a large camp, and 
summoned French to surrender; he and his comrades nding 
about in various directions, and giving orders in a loud voice, 
as if performing the duties of the staff to a large army. 
French, not doubting the reality of what he saw, and anxious 
to spare the effusion of blood, which a contest with a force so 
superior would produce, surrendered the whole detachment, 
together with the crews of the five vessels, amounting, in all, 
to 141 men, and 130 stand of arms ! 

" Colonel White had still, however, a very difficult game to 
play ; it was necessary to keep up the delusion of Captain 
French until the prisoners should be secured ; and, with this 
view, he pretended that the animosity of his troops was so 
ungovernable, that a little stratagem would be necessary to 
save the prisoners from their fury, and that he should, there- 
fore, commit them to the care of three guides, with orders to 



1779.] REVOLUTION. 429 

conduct them to a place of safety. With many thanks for 
the Colonel's humanity, French accepted the proposition, and 
marched off at a quick pace, under the direction of the three 
guides, fearful, at every step, that the rage of White's troops 
would burst upon them, in defiance of his humane attempts 
to restrain them. White, as soon as they were out of sight, 
employed himself in collecting the militia of the neighbour- 
hood, with whom he overtook his prisoners, and they were 
conducted, in safety, for twenty-five miles, to an American 
fort:'— Allen. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Shameful Outrages of the British — Piratical Expedition against Virginia — Devas- 
tation of the Country — Expedition against Connecticut — New Haven plundered — 
Fairfield, Norwalk, and Greenland burned — Horrid Brutalities committed by the 
British Troops — Putnam attacked by Governor Tryon — Wonderful Escape of 
Putnam. 

" pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth, 
That I am, meek and gentle with these butchers." 

Unable to subdue the American armies^ the British now 
commenced a shameful war upon the peaceful inhabitants, 
and began to lay waste a country they could not conquer. 

One of these piratical expeditions was directed against 
Virginia, where their course was marked by cruelty and 
devastation ; burning everything they could not carry away, 
until the country, as far as they proceeded, was converted 
into one vast scene of smoking ruins. 

A similar expedition was projected against tlie ports of 
Connecticut. This was placed under the command of Gov- 
ernor Tryon. After plundering New Haven, he proceeded 
to Fairfield, Norwalk, and Greenland, which he committed to 
the flames. 

" In an account of the devastations made by the English 
in this expedition, which was transmitted to Congress, it ap- 
peared that at Fairfield there were burnt two houses of pub- 
lic worship, fifteen dwelling-houses, eleven barns, and several 



430 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1779. 



stores. At Norwalk, two houses of public worship, eighty 
dwelling-houses, seventy-seven barns, twenty-two stores, 
seventeen shops, four mills and five vessels. In addition to 
this wanton destruction of property, various were the acts of 
brutality, rapine, and cruelty, committed on aged persons, 
women, and prisoners. At New Haven, an aged citizen, who 
laboured under a natural inability of speech, had his tongue 
cut out by one of the royal army. At Fairfield, the deserted 
houses of the inhabitants were entered ; desks, trunks, clo- 
sets, and chests, were broken open and robbed of everything 
valuable. Women were insulted, abused, and threatened, 
while their apparel was taken from them. Even an infant 
was robbed of its clothes, while a bayonet was pointed at the 
breast of its mother. 

"About this time General Putnam, who had been stationed 
with a respectable force at Reading, in Connecticut, then on 
a visit to his outpost, at Horse Neck, was attacked by Gover- 
nor Tryon with 1500 men. Putnam had only a picket of 
150 men, and two field-pieces, without horses or drag- ropes. 
He, however, placed his cannon on the high ground, near the 
meeting-house, and continued to pour in upon the advancing 
foe, until the enemy's horse appeared upon a charge. The 
general now hastily ordered his men to retreat to a neigh- 
bouring swamp, inaccessible to horse, while he himself put 
spurs to his steed, and plunged down the precipice at the 
church. This is so steep as to have artificial stairs, composed 
of nearly one hundred stone steps, for the accommodation of 
worshippers ascending to the sanctuary. On the arrival of 
the dragoons at the brow of the hill, they paused, thinking it 
too dangerous to follow the steps of the adventurous hero. 
Before any could go round the hill and descend, Putnam had 
escaped, uninjured by the many balls which were fired at 
him in his descent ; but one touched him, and that only 
passed through his hat. He proceeded to Stamford, where, 
having strengthened his picket with some militia, he boldly 
faced about and pursued Governor Tryon on his return." 



1779.] REVOLUTION. 43 i 



CHAPTER XX. 

Storming of Stony Point. 

" His brandish'd sword did blind men with its beams ; 
His arms spread wider than a dragon's wings : 
His sparkling eyes, replete with awful fire, 
More dazzled, and drove back his enemies, 
Than mid-day sun fierce bent against their faces. 
What should I say 1 His deeds exceed all speech : 
He ne'er lift up his hand but conquer'd." 

The suffering inhabitants in various parts of the country 
called loudly upon Washington for troops to defend them ; 
but he still kept his army concentrated on both banks of the 
Hudson, at some distance from New^ York, to prevent the 
enemy from taking West Point, a place of great importance, 
situated sixty miles above New York. 

While the enemy were engaged in a predatory warfare, 
an expedition was planned and executed, which, in boldness 
and intrepidity, was not exceeded by any enterprise in the 
history of our wars. This was the storming of Stony Point, 
forty miles north of New York, on the Hudson. 

" The English had laboured with such industry in finishing 
the works at Stony Point, that they had already reduced that 
rock to the condition of a real fortress. They had furnished 
it with a numerous and selected garrison. The stores were 
abundant; the defensive preparations formidable. These 
considerations could not, however, discourage Washington 
from forming the design to surprise the fort. He charged 
General Wayne with the attack, whom he provided with a 
strong detachment of the most enterprising and veteran 
infantry in all his army. 

" These troops set out on their expedition on the 15th of 
July, and, having accomplished their march over high moun- 
tains, through deep morasses, difficult defiles, and roads ex- 
ceedingly ba>d and narrow, arrived about eight o'clock in the 
evening within a mile of Stony Point. General Wayne then 



432 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1779. 



halted to reconnoitre the works, and to observe the situation 
of the garrison. The English, however, did not perceive 
him. He formed his corps in two columns, and put himself 
at the head of the right. It was preceded by a vanguard of 
150 picked men, commanded by that brave and adventurous 
Frenchman, Lieutenant-Colonel Fleury. This vanguard was 
itself guided by a forlorn hope of about 20, led by Lieute- 
nant Gibbon. The column on the left, conducted by Major 
Stewart, had a similar vanguard, also preceded by a forlorn 
hope under Lieutenant Knox. These forlorn hopes, among 
other offices, were particularly intended to remove the abattis 
and other obstructions, which lay in the way of the succeed- 
ing troops. General Wayne directed both columns to march 
in order and silence, with unloaded muskets and fixed bayo- 
nets. At midnight they arrived under the walls of the fort. 
The two columns attacked upon the flanks, while Major Mur- 
fee engaged the attention of the garrison by a feint in their 
front. An unexpected obstacle presented itself; the deep 
morass which covered the works was at this time overflowed 
by the tide. The English opened a most tremendous fire of 
musketry, and of cannon loaded with grape-shot ; but neither 
the inundated morass, nor a double palisade, nor the bas- 
tioned ramparts, nor the storm of fire that was poured from 
them, could arrest the impetuosity of the Americans ; they 
opened their way with the bayonet, prostrated whatever op- 
posed them, scaled the fort, and the two columns met in the 
centre of the works. General Wayne received a contusion 
in the head, by a musket-ball, as he passed the last abattis ; 
Colonel Fleury struck with his own hand the royal standard 
that waved upon the walls. Of the forlorn hope of Gibbon, 
17 out of the 20 perished in the attack. The English lost 
upwards of 600 men in killed and prisoners. The conquerors 
abstained from pillage and from all disorder ; a conduct the 
more worthy to be commended, as they had still present in 
mind the ravages and butcheries which their enemies had so 
recently committed in Carolina, in Connecticut, and in Vir- 
ginia. Humanity imparted new effulgence to the victory 
which valour had obtained." 



1779.] REVOLUTION. 433 

" But Hudson still, with his interior tide, 
Laves a rude rock that bears Britannia's pride, 
Swells round the headland with indignant roar. 
And mocks her thunders from his murmuring shore ; 
When a firm cohort starts from Peekskill plain. 
To crush the invaders and the post regain. 
Here, gallant Hull, again thy sword is tried, 
Meigs, Fleury, Butler, labouring side by side : 
Wayne takes the guidance, culls the vigorous band, 
Strikes out the flint, and bids the nervous hand 
Trust the mute bayonet and midnight skies, 
To stretch o'er craggy walls the dark surprise. 
With axes, handspikes on the shoulder hung. 
And the sly watchword, whisper'd from the tongue. 
Through different paths the silent march they take. 
Plunge, climb the ditch, the palisado break. 
Secure each sentinel, each picket shun, 
Grope the dim postern where the by-ways run. 
Soon the roused garrison perceives its plight ; 
Small time to rally and no means of flight. 
They spring, confused, to every post they know, 
Point their poised cannon where they hear the foe. 
Streak the dark welkin with the flames they pour, 
And rock the mountain with convulsive roar. 

The swift assailants still no fire return, 
But, toward the batteries that above them bum, 
Climb hard from crag to crag ; and, scaling higher, 
They pierce the long, dense canopy of fire 
That sheeted all the sky ; then rush amain, 
Storm every outwork, each dread summit gain, 
Hew timber'd gates, the sullen drawbridge fall. 
File through, and form within the sounding wall. 
The Britons strike their flag, the fort forego, 
Descend, sad prisoners, to the plain below. 
A thousand veterans, ere the morning rose. 
Received their handcuffs from five hundred foes ; 
And Stony Point beheld, with dawning day. 
Hie own starr'd standard on his ramparts play." 



55 2m 



434 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1779. 



CHAPTER XXI. 



Operations against the Indians. 
— Since brevity is the soul of wit, 



And tediousness the limbs and outward flourishes, 
I will be brief." 

The period had now arrived to chastise the Indians for the 
fiendish outrages they had committed. General Sullivan, 
with between 4000 and 5000 men, marched up the Susque- 
hanna and attacked the savages in well-constructed fortifica- 
tions. They made a fierce resistance, but, being overpowered, 
they fled like a herd of buffaloes. Sullivan, according to his 
instructions, laid waste their country. He burned forty 
villages and destroyed 160,000 bushels of corn. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Campaign of 1779 — Inactivity of both Parties — Pecuniary Difficulties of the 
American Government — Sir Henry Clinton despatches an Expedition against 
Charleston — Furious Assault on the Town — Lincoln refuses to surrender — Assault 
renewed — Capitulation — Operations of General Wadsworth in the North — Sur- 
prised and taken Prisoner — Wonderful Escape and subsequent Adventures of 
General Wadsworth and Major Burton. 

" Observe yon tree in your neighbour's garden," said Zanoni to Viola. 
" Look how it grows up. * * * Some wind scattered the germ, from 
which it sprung, in the clefts of the rocks ; choked up and walled round by 
crags and buildings, by nature and by man, its life has been one struggle 
for the light; light, which makes to that life the necessity and the principle. 
You see how it has writhed and twisted ; how, meeting with barriers in 
one spot, it has laboured and worked, stem and branches, towards the clear 
skies at last. ♦ * • Why are its leaves as green and as fair as the 
vine behind you, which, with all its arms, can embrace the open sunshine 1 
* * Because of the very instinct that impelled the struggle; because the 
laboar for the light won to the light at length. So with a gallant heart, through 
every adverse accident of sorrow and of fate to turn to the sun, to strive 
for thebeiven; that it is that gives knowledge to the strong and happiness 



-• =^ 

1779-80.] REVOLUTION. 435 

to the weak. Ere we meet again, you will turn sad and heavy eyes to those 
quiet boughs; and, when you hear the birds sing from them, and see the 
sunshine come slant from crag and house-top, to be the playfellow of their 
leaves, learn the lesson that nature teaches j^ou, and strive through darkness 
to light .'" 

The year 1779 was distinguished for the feeble exertions 
of both parties. Count D'Estaing, though unsuccessful on 
the American coast, had kept the British in check with his 
powerful fleet, and, in his visit to the West Indies, where he 
captured two islands, actually drew the British fleet after 
him. 

The activity of the Americans was lessened, partly by the 
disappointment occasioned by the failure of the French fleet, 
and partly by the depreciation of their paper currency. 
Loans were difficult to negotiate, from the uncertainty of the 
issue of the war, and taxation was rather a dangerous expe- 
riment, at this period, for very obvious reasons. 

After receiving certain information of the departure of 
D'Estaing, Sir Henry Clinton set on foot an expedition for 
the reduction of Charleston, South Carolina. Committing 
the garrison of New York to General Knyphausen, he em- 
barked with a force of between 7000 and 8000 men, on the 
26th of December. A violent tempest arose, which dispersed 
the whole fleet, and damaged most of the vessels. About the 
end of January, 1780, the ships arrived at Tybee, in Georgia, 
the appointed place of rendezvous, like scattered wild geese, 
with ruffled plumage. Some of their vessels were intercepted 
by the Americans. One transport foundered with all its 
lading ; the horses on board nearly all perished. The dispersed 
troops having re-assembled in Georgia, their injuries were 
repaired by the troops of Savannah ; and, on the 10th of 
February, they set sail from Tybee to North Edisto, a river 
which empties itself into the sea near the Isle of St. John, 
upon the coast of South Carolina. On this island the troops 
were disembarked, about thirty miles from Charleston. Part 
of the fleet was now sent round to block up the harbour of 
Charleston by sea, while the troops advanced through the 
country, passing from John's to James's Island ; and thence 



r 



436 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1779-80. 



(1 



over Wappoo Cut to the main land, and proceeded to Ashley 
river, opposite Charleston. On the 29th of March, they 
began to cross the river, and v^^ere soon landed on Charleston 
Neck, twelve miles above the town. 

In the meantime. General Lincoln and John Rutledge, 
governor of the state, made great preparations to defend the 
city. The fortifications were pushed with indefatigable in- 
dustry. A chain of redoubts, lines, and batteries, soon ex- 
tended from Ashley to Cooper river, upon which were mounted 
upwards of eighty pieces of cannon and mortars. In front 
of the line they dug a canal, and filled it with water. In 
front of either flank, the works were covered by swamps, 
forming natural impediments, where the artificial ended. 
Between these impediments and the works, were two rows 
of abattis, the trees being buried slanting in the earth, with 
their heads outwards, and these works were further secured 
by a double-picketed ditch. In the centre, where the natural 
defences were not equal to those of the flanks, was a horn- 
work of masonry, forming a kind of citadel. This was the 
only side on which the city could be approached by land ; 
but towards the water, the Americans had numerous batteries, 
covered with artillery, to prevent the approach of ships. 

The enemy, who, in crossing the Ashley river, had cut off 
all communication, by land, from the Americans, now ap- 
proached the town, and on the night of the 1st of April, they 
broke ground within 800 yards of the American works ; and 
in another week their guns were mounted in battery. Taking 
advantage of the wind and tide, Admiral Arbuthnot passed 
fort Moultrie, under press of sail, and took his station within 
cannon-shot of Charleston. Colonel Pinckney, with a re- 
spectable force, had opened all his artillery upon the British 
vessels as they passed the fort ; but, so rapid was their pass- 
age, that they sustained but little damage. Thus invested by 
sea and land, Lincoln was summoned to surrender. The fatal 
consequences of a cannonade and storm were held out in the 
summons ; and the present as the only favourable opportunity 
to preserve the lives and property of the inhabitants. Lincoln 
answered : — " Sixty days have passed since it has been known 



I 1779-80.] REVOLUTION. 437 



that your intentions against this town were hostile, in which 
time has been afforded to abandon it ; but duty and inclina- 
tion point to tlie propriety of supporting it to the last ex- 
tremity." 

The batteries of the first parallel were now opened upon 
the town, and the Americans answered in a most spirited 
manner. A second parallel was completed, nearer than the 
first, and furnished with batteries ; and, at last, a third, close 
to the American works. Prepared to commence the bom- 
bardment of the town, Clinton again summoned Lincoln to 
surrender. A negotiation was opened, but the English com- 
mander insisted that the town should surrender at discretion ; 
agreeing to nothing further, as to private property, than that 
it should be preserved from pillage ; while the American com- 
mander required not only that the citizens and militia should 
be free with respect to their persons, but that they should also 
be permitted to sell their property, and retire with the proceeds 
wherever they might see fit. The conferences were broken 
off, and hostilities recommenced. 

The American fortifications were now battered down with 
the heavy artillery of the enemy ; the town was overwhelmed 
with bombs and carcasses, and the flames began to spread on 
every side. 

" The bold beleaguer'd post the hero gains, 
And the hard siege with various fate sustains ; 
Cornwallis, towering at the British van. 
In these fierce toils his wild career began; 
He mounts the forky streams, and soon bestrides 
The narrow neck that parts converging tides, 
Sinks the deep trench, erects the mantling tower, 
Lines with strong forts the desolated shore, 
Hems on all sides the long unsuccourM place. 
With mines and parallels contracts the space ; 
Then bids the battering floats his labours crown, 
And pour their bombard on the shuddering town. 
High from the decks the mortar's bursting fires 
Sweep the full streets, and splinter down the spires. 
Blaze-trailing fuses vault the night's dim round, 
And shells and langrange lacerate the ground ; 
Till all the tented plain, where heroes tread, 
Is torn with craes and covered with the dead. 



438 THE ARMY AWD NAVY. [1779-80. 

Each shower of flames renews the townsmen's woe ; 
They wail the fight, they dread the cruel foe. 
Matrons in crowds, while tears bedew their charms, 
Babes at their sides and infants in their arms, 
Press round their Lincoln, and his hand implore 
To save them, trembling, from the tyrant's power. 
He shares their anguish with a moistening eye. 
And bids the balls rain thicker through the sky ; 
Tries every aid that art and valour yield. 
The sap, the countermine, the battling field, 
The bold sortie, by famine urged afar. 
That dreadful daughter of earth-wasting War, 
But vain the conflict now ; on all the shore, 
The foes in fresh brigades around him pour ; 
He yields, at last, the well-contested prize. 
And freedom's banners quit the southern skies." 

The works nearly destroyed, his retreat and provisions cuf 
off, the city menaced w^ith an assault, which the engineers 
considered it impossible to sustain ; the citizens calling aloud 
for a surrender, Lincoln, in this deplorable extremity, yielded 
to the enemy. The capitulation was signed on the 12th of 
May ; and the American army, amounting to 5000 men, 
with the inhabitants of the place, and 400 pieces of artillery, 
were surrendered to the British. The Americans were al- 
lowed some of the honours of war ; and just the same honours 
were afterwards granted to Cornwallis and his army at York- 
town. 

" We shall interrupt the thread of our history to relate the 
personal adventures of Major-General Wads worth, in the 
district of Maine, during the spring of this year. He had 
been sent by the legislature of Massachusetts, to command 
in that part of the country. Having attended to the objects 
of his mission during the summer of '79, and the principal 
part of the succeeding winter, he dismissed his troops towards 
the end of February, and began to prepare for his return to 
Boston. He had been accompanied during this time by 
Mrs. Wadsworth, and a friend of hers. Miss Fenno, of that 
place. 

"His preparations, however, were discovered by a disaffected 



1779-80.] REVOLUTION. 439 



inhabitant in the neighbourhood, who gave intelligence to the 
commander of the British fort at Bagaduce, and assured him 
that the general might easily be made a prisoner. No time 
was lost. Twenty-five soldiers, with the proper officers, were 
soon embarked on board a vessel, in which they proceeded to 
an inlet, four miles from the general's quarters. Here they 
landed under cover of night, and lying concealed till near 
midnight, they proceeded on their destined purpose. 

" The nature of the ground was such as to conceal them 
until they had arrived at the house. The sentinel, being 
surprised, sprung into the kitchen door, and was followed by 
a volley from the assailants, and by some of the assailants 
themselves. Another party blew in the windows of the gen- 
eral's bed-room, whilst a third party, forcing the windows of 
Miss Fenno, rushed into her apartment. 
' " The general's room being barred, he determined to make 
what resistance he was able. Accordingly, as the assailants 
approached his apartment, he repeatedly discharged his pis- 
tols, a blunderbuss, and fusee. At length a ball from the 
kitchen broke his arm, and terminated the contest. 

" The party, apprehensive of danger, now retired in haste, 
taking with them the wounded general, but leaving his wife 
and Miss Fenno to emotions the most intense. After pro- 
ceeding with some difficulty near a mile, General Wadsworth 
was put on a horse, behind a mounted soldier, and being 
warned that silence alone would insure his safety, the party 
at length reached the vessel, which immediately sailed for 
the fort. 

" Near the close of the day the party arrived with their 
charge. General Wadsworth landed amid the shouts of a 
multitude, which had assembled to see the man who had justly 
excited their admiration, by his enterprises in that quarter, 
and, under a guard, was conducted to the officers' guard- 
room. Here his wounds were dressed ; a room in the officers' 
barracks was assigned him, and, through the civility of Gene- 
ral Campbell, the commandant of the fort, who often visited 
him, his situation was rendered as comfortable as could be 
expected. 



440 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1779-80. 

" General Wadsworth, however, was a prisoner and alone. 
Nothing could supply the place of freedom, to which a spirit 
like his constantly aspired: or of domestic happiness, which, 
though a soldier of the most ardent stamp, he well knew how 
to appreciate. Added to this, his wound, during the first two 
weeks, had become so inflamed as to confine him entirely to 
his room. 

"At the expiration of this time, he had the happiness to hear 
from his wife by means of an officer, bearing a flag of truce, 
who, at his request, had been despatched by General Camp- 
bell with a letter to her, and another to the governor of 
Massachusetts. The intelligence he received from Mrs. 
Wadsworth, of her safety, and especially that of his little 
son, who he supposed had been killed the night he was taken 
prisoner, was peculiarly gratifying. So far from having been 
injured, his son had slept amidst all the horrors of the scene, 
and only knew of the transactions of the dreadful night, by 
the devastation he saw around him in the morning. 

"At the end of five weeks, when his wounds were nearly 
healed, the general requested the customary privilege of a 
parole. Circumstances, however, existed, which rendered it 
necessary to deny him, and he acquiesced. About this time, 
Mrs. Wadsworth and Miss Fenno, under protection of a 
passport from General Campbell, visited him. The visit 
lasted ten days, to their mutual satisfaction. 

" In the meantime, orders respecting him had arrived from 
the commanding general at New York. Of the tenor of these 
orders. General Wadsworth was ignorant, but their unpro- 
pitious nature was indicated by the change of conduct and 
countenance of some of the officers. Miss Fenno had acci- 
dentally learned their import, but she carefully concealed her 
knowledge until the moment of her departure, when, to pre- 
vent suspicion, she barely said, "General Wadsworth, take 
care of yourself" From the servants, not long after, he 
learned that, instead of being exchanged, he was to be sent 
to England. 

" In the course of some days, Major Benjamin Burton, a 
brave officer, was conveyed as a prisoner to Bagaduce, and 



1779-80.] REVOLUTION. 441 

lodged in the same room with General Wadsworth. He con- 
firmed the report of the servants respecting the transporta- 
tion of the general to England, and learned, not long after, 
that he himself was destined to a similar fate. The monitory 
caution of Miss Fenno was now explained, and the general 
plainly saw the importance of attending to it. These officers 
were not long in deciding that they would not cross the At- 
lantic ; and, though scarcely a ray of hope presented itself to 
encourage them, they, nevertheless, resolved to attempt to 
escape. 

"Bagaduce, on which the fort stands, is a peninsula of mode- 
rate extent, washed by considerable waters on every side, 
except the sandy beach which connects it with the main land 
on the west. The fort stands on the middle of the peninsula. 
The prisoners were confined in a grated room in the officers',' 
barracks. The walls of the fort, exclusive of the depth of 
the ditch surrounding it, were twenty feet high, with fraising 
on the top, and chevaux-de-frise below. Sentinels were 
stationed in every place in and about the fortress, where their 
presence could be supposed to be necessary. Escape, there- 
fore, seemed almost impracticable. 

"After several plans proposed by the prisoners for their 
escape, they settled, at length, upon the following: As the 
room in which they were confined was ceiled with boards, 
they determined to cut off one of these, so as to admit their 
entrance. After passing through, they proposed to creep 
along one of the joists to which these boards were nailed, and 
thus to pass over the room adjoining, which belonged to the 
officers, until they should come to the middle entry, and then, 
by a blanket, which was to be taken with them, to let them- 
selves down in this entry. In case of being observed, they 
agreed upon several stratagems to be employed, in order that 
their attempt might be crowned with success. 

" In agreement with this plan, after the sentinel had taken 
the required precaution in regard to the prisoners, and seen 
them in bed. General Wadsworth arose and attempted to 
make the necessary incision into the board with his knife; 
but he found the attempt useless and hazardous, since it could 

56 



442 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1779-80 



be done neither with the necessary expedition nor without 
noise. This part of the design was therefore abandoned. 
He, however, soon found means, through the agency of a sol- 
dier, who was his barber, to procure a gimlet without excit- 
ing suspicion as to the purpose for which he intended it. 

"On the succeeding night they made the attempt with their 
gimlet, but this also occasioned too much noise. They re- 
solved next to make the experiment in the day-time ; and 
although two sentinels, in walking the entry, every moment 
or two passed by their door, which had a glass window in it, 
and although they were exposed every hour to the intrusion 
of their servants, or of the officers of the fort, they succeeded 
in perforating the ceiling from time to time. The stratagem 
was simply this. As the sentinels were in the habit of pac- 
king the entry backwards and forwards, the prisoners would 
commence the same tour in their own room, being careful to 
keep time with them, and both to pass at the same instant by 
the glass door ; but as the sentinels had to go twice the length 
the prisoners had, this afforded an opportunity for one of the 
latter to be engaged with the gimlet in the meantime, and 
then to join his companion as the sentinels came back. 

"In this manner a sufficient number of holes were bored in 
the course of three weeks. The small spaces between the 
holes were cut with a penknife, except one at each corner, 
in order to hold the piece in its proper place till they were 
ready finally to remove it. The wounds, in the meantime, 
were covered over with a paste made of chewed bread, 
resembling the colour of the board, and the dust was care- 
fully swept from the floor. All this was done without suspi- 
cion from any quarter. 

"Their conveyance to New York, or Halifax, and thence to 
England, was understood to be by a privateer, which was 
then on a cruise, but was soon expected to return. Their 
attention, of course, was arrested by everything which they 
heard relative to this vessel, and they made every unsuspi- 
cious inquiry in their power, concerning the situation of the 
fort, the posting of the sentinels, and similar subjects. The 
information thus obtained, enabled General Wadsworth, who 



1779-80.] REVOLUTION. 443 



had previously some knowledge of the place, to form a cor- 
rect view of the whole ground. 

"During this time they made what little preparations they 
were able, as to provisions, and other things, that related to 
their intended escape. At the end of three weeks they were 
all ready. The privateer was daily expected to return, 
which would disconcert all their purposes, and they wished 
nothing more than such an opportunity as a dark and rainy 
night would afford, in order to their deliverance. During a 
whole week no such opportunity offered, and, together with 
this fact, some circumstances, tending to excite a belief that 
their design was suspected, occurred, and rendered their 
anxiety extreme. 

"At length the favourable occasion was presented. A storm 
on the 18th of June brought on an unusual degree of dark- 
ness and rain. At about eleven o'clock the prisoners retired, 
apparently to rest, while the sentinel was looking through 
the glass door. No sooner, however, were their lights extin- 
guished, than they arose ; their first object was to cut the 
corners of the board, through which they were to make their 
escape. An hour was spent in accomplishing this purpose, 
and, as it was attended with considerable noise, it was not 
done without danger. 

"Burton first passed through the aperture. His size ren- 
dered it a difficult attempt. The general, although smaller, 
found even greater difficulty from the weakness of his arm ; 
but the urgency of the case induced him to put forth every 
effort. By means of a chair, on which he stood, and a blan- 
ket, fastened with a skewer put through the hole, he raised 
himself through. The noise made by these attempts, and 
even the cackling of the fowls that roosted above the rooms, 
were unheeded, being drowned by the torrents of rain pour- 
ing incessantly on the roof of the building. 

"By agreement, when Burton had reached the middle entry, 
he was to wait for the general ; the latter, however, when he 
had gained the place, was unable to find him ; but judging 
from appearances that he had escaped through the door, he 
followed on. Passing partly round the building, in order to 



444 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1779-80. 



gain the western side, he felt his way directly under the eaves, 
lest he should strike against some person, an event to which 
he was exposed in consequence of the extreme darkness. 
From this point he made his way towards the neighbouring 
wall of the fort, but was unable to climb the bank until he 
had found out an oblique path. 

"Just as he had gained the place on the north bastion, where 
Burton and himself had agreed to cross the wall, the guard- 
house door, on the opposite side of the fort, was thrown open, 
and the words " Relief, turn out!" were distinctly heard. At 
this instant he heard a scrambling in a contrary direction, 
which he knew must be made by his companion. This was 
a critical moment. The general was in danger of being trod 
on by the guard, as they came around on the top of the wall, 
and he barely prevented this catastrophe, by getting himself 
and his wet blanket upon the fraising, which was the out- 
ward margin of the wall. 

"After the guard had passed on, by means of his blanket, 
fastened round a picket of the fraising, he let himself down 
as near the ground as the length of the blanket would admit, 
and then let go his hold, and fell without injury. Having 
made several movements with great silence, in order to clear 
himself from the works connected with the fort, he at length 
found himself descending the declivity of the hill, into the 
open field. All this was done not without extreme difficulties, 
owing to the lameness of his arm. No indications appeared 
that he was as yet discovered. 

"As the rain and darkness continued, he groped his way to 
an old guard-house on the shore of the back cove. At this 
building he and his companion had agreed to meet, should 
they have been previously separated. Burton, however, after 
a long search, was not to be found. Accordingly the general 
prepared to cross the cove, and happily succeeded, as the 
time was that of low water. It was now about two o'clock 
in the morning, and he had proceeded a mile and a half from 
the fort. His course lay up a sloping acclivity, which at the 
time happened to be overspread with trees, a circumstance 
that greatly impeded his progress. He proceeded a mile 



1779-80.] REVOLUTION. 445 

over the ground till he reached the summit, where he found 
a road, which, however, he soon left for the woods, in order 
to make his way to the river ; Here the day dawned, and he 
heard the reveille beat at the fort. At sunrise he reached 
the eastern shore of the Penobscot. Choosing, however, not 
to cross the river at that place, he continued his way still 
higher up at the foot of the bank, passing near the water, so 
as to have his steps washed by the tide. By this means he 
hoped to be secure from the bloodhounds kept at the fo7't. 
Having reached a place at a distance of seven miles from the 
fort, where it was necessary for him to cross the river, and 
where he found a canoe lying on the shore, he concluded to 
rest for a time, and dry his clothes. While in this situation, 
what was his joy to descry his friend Burton approaching 
him, in the very track which he himself had taken ! 

*' The major, after having passed through the hole in the 
ceiling, immediately made his way into the second entry, and 
concluding that his friend would be unable to pass through 
the hole, for want of assistance in the room, [he should have 
pulled him up,] thought it best to complete his escape alone. 
He met with little difficulty till the door of the guard-room 
was suddenly opened, and, supposing that a discovery had 
taken place, he immediately leaped from the wall ; fortu- 
nately receiving no injury, though his life was singularly ex- 
posed by the leap, he easily escaped into the open ground. 

" Mistaking the ground he should have taken. Burton sud- 
denly found himself near a sentinel, who was one of a picket- 
guard, stationed not far from the isthmus. As, however, he 
was not perceived, he found means silently to withdraw from 
his unwelcome neighbour, and entering the water on the side 
of the isthmus next the river, he passed over to the opposite 
side, above the picket. This undertaking was hazardous in 
the extreme, and cost him an hour's excessive toil. Chilled 
and exhausted, he then took his way through the forest, which 
the general had taken before, and by this means rejoined him. 

" The two friends entered the canoe, and as they were in 
the expectation of being pursued by the enemy, they pro- 
posed to cross the river obliquely. While executing this 

_ 



446 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1779-80* 

project, a barge belonging to the British came in sight at some 
distance. Circumstances, however, favoured the concealment 
of the officers, and by hard rowing they landed out of reach 
of their pursuers. For greater safety they abandoned the 
shore, and directed their course through the forests towards 
the head of St. George's river. A compass which Burton 
had fortunately retained, was their guide. Though greatly 
incommoded by the showers, heat, and the obstructions of a 
forest, they travelled twenty-five miles by sunset. 

" They made less progress, however, the next day ; and, on 
the third day. General Wadsworth, from soreness, lameness, 
and fatigue, proposed to stop where he was, until his friend, 
by proceeding onward to the nearest settlement, could bring 
him relief. To this plan, however, Burton strenuously ob- 
jected. They then both proposed to refresh themselves with 
a little sleep. This they did in the heat of the day, and found 
the effect so beneficial, that they were invigorated to pursue 
their journey, which they finished at six o'clock, P. M., by 
reaching the settlements towards which they had directed 
their course. The inhabitants flocked around them with the 
strongest expressions of joy, and having formed themselves 
into a guard for their protection, conducted these officers to 
an inn, not far from the place where the general was taken 
prisoner. Parties of the enemy were lurking round in order 
to waylay them, and they were saved from falling again into 
their hands, only by the defence which was so generously 
afforded them. Burton soon reached his family. General 
Wadsworth set out for Portland, where he expected to find 
Mrs. Wadsworth. But she and Miss Fenno had sailed for 
Boston before his arrival. 

" He immediately proceeded to join them at that place. On 
his arrival, he found that they had suflfered much from want 
of money and friends, besides being nearly shipwrecked on 
their way. The past, however, was forgotten in the felicity 
of the present, and in gratitude to a kind Providence, through 
which they had escaped perils both by sea and land." — 
Dwight's Travels. 



1780.] REVOLUTION. 447 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Clinton returns to New York — Lord Cornwallis takes Command of the Army 
of the South — Cruelties committed by Cornwallis — Vigorous Exertions of Generals 
Sumpter and Marion, in Defence of their Country— General Gates supersedes 
Lincoln — Battle of Camden — Defeat of the Americans — Death of Baron De Kalb 
— Affairs in the North — Wanton Outrages committed in New Jersey by Knyp- 
hausen's Troops — Lafayette returns to America — Cheering Intelligence and bright 
Prospects — Patriotic Exertions of the Ladies to replenish the exhausted Treasury — 
Arrival of French Troops as Allies — Clinton foiled in an important Enterprise 
— American Affairs wear a new aspect. 

" Rocharabeau, foremost, with his gleamy brand 
Points to each field and singles every band, 
Sees Washington the power of nations guide, 
And longs to toil and conquer by his side." 

The height of joy and the depth of woe passed like two 
contending genii over the land, during the summer of 1780. 

After the reduction of Charleston, Clinton returned to New 
York, and the command of the south was given to Lord 
Cornwallis, who adopted the most rigorous measures to keep 
the people in subjection. But his cruelties aroused the indig- 
nation of the people, and they flocked to the standard of a 
man, who rose up like a giant in the midst of oppression, as 
if just to show the world how much freedom can do; and in 
a short time he became truly formidable to the enemy. This 
was General Sumpter, a native of South Carolina, who kept 
up the spirit of the people by many a daring and successful 
exploit, until the arrival of a respectable force from the 
Middle States, to relieve their brethren of the south. Sumpter 
was assisted by Marion, whose deeds every schoolboy knows. 

General Gates, who superseded General Lincoln, now took 
command of the army in the south, consisting of 4000 men, 
of whom one-half were militia, from North Carolina, Mary- 
land, and Virginia. 

Lord Rawdon, who commanded at Camden, 120 miles 
north-east of Charleston, finding that the inhabitants of South 
Carolina, on the approach of Gates, were menacing his rear, 



448 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1780. 

while his force was not even sufficient to defend himself 
against the approaching army, sent to Cornwallis for assist- 
ance. The latter hastened to the relief of Rawdon. 

On the morning of the 16th of August, the two armies met, 
and a severe and general engagement ensued, in which the 
enemy gained an advantage, though inferior in numbers in 
the commencement of the battle. This was owing to the 
flight of the militia, which so reduced the army as to make it 
inferior to that of the enemy. Fierce and terrible was the 
conflict. The regulars, under Baron De Kalb, who was second 
in command, defended themselves with the utmost gallantry. 
Again and again were they led to the charge by the brave De 
Kalb ; but, at last, pierced with eleven wounds, the hero fell 
dying into the power of the victors, while the Americans, 
overpowered by numbers, fled in every direction. The 
battle-field, the roads and swamps, for some distance, were 
covered with the wounded and slain. The number of Ame- 
ricans killed, amounted to between 600 and 700, and 1300 or 
1400 were taken prisoners. The British estimated their loss, 
in killed and wounded, at 324. 

The Baron died, three days after the battle, happy in the 
thought that he fell in a cause so noble, and to him so dear. 
He had also requested his aid-de-camp to express to Generals 
Gist and Smallwood, his high sense of the valour displayed 
by the regular troops of Maryland and Delaware. Congress 
ordered a monument to be erected to his memory, at An- 
napolis. 

Gates was severely censured for several great errors, the 
most imprudent of which was his changing his order of battle 
in the presence of the enemy, just as the battle was about to 
commence. " Cornwallis, at sight of this movement, resolved 
to profit by it instantly. Accordingly, he ordered Colonel 
Webster to advance and make a vigorous attack upon those 
troops that were still undulating, from their not having yet 
been able to re-form their ranks." It is highly probable that 
this occasioned the early flight of the militia, and the defeat 
of the army. 

This disaster in the south at first spread a gloom over the 



1780.] REVOLUTION. 449 

country, but this was only temporary, for various reasons, 
one of which was the arrival of the French, in the north. 

The most brutal measures were now adopted by Cornwallis 
to terrify the people ; a great number were hung because they 
were faithful to their country ; others were imprisoned, or had 
their property taken from them. Every kind of oppression 
disgraced this administration, which soon produced effects 
contrary to those desired. 

During this summer, the predatory incursions of the enemy 
had again distressed the people of the north. General Knyp- 
hausen had entered New Jersey, plundering the country and 
burning villages. On arriving at Connecticut Farms, a village 
of about a dozen houses, and where no resistance was made, 
the enemy burnt the village and murdered the wife of the 
Rev. Mr. Caldwell, in the midst of her children, because her 
husband, now absent, had advocated the cause of freedom ! 

Robbed of their property ; driven from their homes, often 
in ruins ; their friends murdered and themselves threatened 
with all the horrors of savage warfare, do the Americans 
yield ? Is their feeble resistance an indication of despair — 
of submission ? and have all their toils and sufferings been in 
vain ? 

But, hark ! A terrible cry echoes over the land. Why do 
the tyrants look pale? — It is Freedom speaks in a voice of 
thunder, and she will be heard. See where her sons are 
coming — the mountains — the hills — the valleys reply to the 
cry of vengeance of an exasperated people. They will be 
free- — they will drive these fiends from their once peaceful 
homes ; they will crush the satellites of England with a sin- 
gle blow, and then once more be happy. 

Lafayette had lately returned from France, where he had 
been for a short time. He brought the cheering intelligence 
that a French army would soon arrive in America; that he 
had seen the troops embarked, and had exerted himself to 
accelerate the preparations for the expedition. This had 
given another impulse to the American people, and all their 
prospects were brightening daily. Raised from the depths 
of despair, by this reaction, to exhilarating joy, the people 

5^ 27* 



450 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1780. 



were almost mad with enthusiasm. Capitalists subscribed large 
sums to replenish the exhausted public treasury. Of this 
Philadelphia first gave the example, and it was soon followed 
by all Pennsylvania, and other provinces. The ladies of Phi- 
ladelphia formed a society, at the head of which they placed 
Lady Washington. They contributed to the relief of the 
state to the extent of their means ; they went from house to 
house to animate the people to aid the sacred cause in which 
the country was engaged. And who would not listen to such 
patriotic orators ? Their appeals had a power that was irre- 
sistible. The ladies of other states soon followed their ex- 
ample, and large sums were collected and deposited in the 
public treasury. 

In the midst of this enthusiasm, on the 10th of July, the 
French arrived at Rhode Island, which had been abandoned 
by the British. Count Rochambeau, lieutenant-general of 
the armies of the king, landed 6000 soldiers ; of which, ac- 
cording to the agreement between the court of Versailles and 
Congress, Washington, as captain-general, was commander- 
in-chief, as well as of the American armies. The French 
were received with demonstrations of joy by the American 
people, and every eflfort was made to cultivate a permanent 
friendship between the soldiers of the two nations. 

Clinton resolved to attack the French army at Newport 
with a force of 6000 men. The British squadron got under 
sail; but Washington, now reinforced by his enthusiastic 
countrymen, descended along the Hudson to Kingshridge, 
and menaced New York. This brought Clinton hack unth all 
his forces. Such a movement raised high the morale of the 
American and French armies, now exulting in seeing a baf- 
fled enemy vacillating between two points. 

The French had brought a great deal of coin with them, 
which they spent very freely, resolved to make it circulate; 
and this made money plentier, and everything began to wear 
a cheerful aspect. 



1780.] REVOLUTION. 451 



r^ 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Treason of Arnold — Arrest of Andre — Their treacherous Designs frustrated — 
Arnold escapes — Execution of Andre — Paulding, Williams, and Van Wert re- 
warded by Congress — Price of Arnold's Treason. 

" Oh for a tongue to curse the slave, 

Whose treason, like a deadly blight, 
Comes o'er the councils of the brave, 

And blasts them in their hours of might ! 
May life's unblessed cup for him 
Be drugg'd with treacheries to the brim, 
With hopes that but allure to fly. 

With joys that vanish while he sips. 
Like Dead-Sea fruits, that tempt the eye. 

But turn to ashes on the lips ! 
His country's curse, his children's shame. 
Outcast of virtue, peace, and fame. 
May he, at last, with lips of flame. 
On the parch'd desert thirsting die, — 
While lakes that shone in mockery nigh, 
Are fading off untouch'd, untasted. 
Like the once glorious hopes he blasted !" 

It is a painful task to curse a man, and to record his treason, 
after he has toiled and suffered so long and so much in the 
cause of his country, as General Arnold. But the crime of 
treason is such an aggravated one, that no language can ex- 
press the abhorrence and detestation that every honourable 
man must feel of the crime and the criminal. 

" During some time, a design had been maturing in the 
shades of mystery, whose execution, had it succeeded to the 
wish of its authors, would have involved the total ruin of the 
army of Washington, and, perhaps, the entire subjugation of 
America. A single instant more, and the work of so many 
years, cemented at such a cost of gold and blood, might have 
been demolished to its foundations by a cause altogether un- 
thought of The English had well nigh, by means of treason, 
arrived at that object which, with five years of intrigue and 



452 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1780. 



of combat, they had not been able to attain; and it was even 
at the hands of the man they least suspected, that the Ame- 
ricans were to have received the most fatal blow. They had 
but too manifest a proof, that no confidence can be placed in 
courage when disunited from virtue. They learned that men 
who displayed the most enthusiasm for a cause, are often also 
those who become the soonest unfaithful ; and it should never 
be forgotten, that the man without morals, who arrives at the 
first offices of the republic, has no other object but to satiate 
his ambition or his cupidity, at the expense of his fellow-citi- 
zens. If he encounter obstacles, he is ripe for deeds of vio- 
lence within, and treason without. The name of General 
Arnold was deservedly dear to all Americans ; they considered 
him as one of their most intrepid defenders. Numerous 
wounds, and especially that which had almost deprived him 
of the use of one leg, had forced him to take repose at his 
seat in the country. 

•' Congress, with the concurrence of Washington, in recom- 
pense of his services, appointed him commandant of Philadel- 
phia, immediately after that city was evacuated by the Eng- 
lish, and returned to American domination. Here Arnold 
lived at an enormous expense, and showed himself extremely 
grasping in order to support it. 

" Unable to support this extravagance from the emoluments 
of his employment, he commenced speculating, which also 
failed. He then began to embezzle the public treasure. The 
government appointed commissioners to investigate the 
matter; and Arnold, enraged at their decision, loaded them 
with imprecations, and appealed to Congress. But the mem- 
bers charged to examine the accounts anew, declared that the 
commissioners had allowed him more than he was entitled to. 
This led him to the most bitter invective, and indecent abuse 
of Congress. He was also accused, by Pennsylvania, of 
peculation, in converting to his own use the confiscated 
British merchandise at Philadelphia. He was brought before 
a court-martial, and the sentence of the court was, that he 
should be reprimanded by Washington. 

" Burning with revenge, and desirous to glut his thirst for 



1780.] REVOLUTION. 453 



gold, he resolved not only to join the enemy, hut first solicited 
and obtained the command of West Point, which by great 
labour and expense had been rendered impregnable, to intro- 
duce the enemy into this all-important citadel ! 

" Having assumed the command, he entered into negotia- 
tions with Sir Henry Clinton ; but, fortunately, the plot was 
discovered in time to defeat it, though Arnold escaped to the 
enemy. Major Andre, the agent of Clinton, was arrested, 
tried, and executed as a spy. 

" Major Andre, at this time adjutant-general of the British 
army, was an officer, extremely young, but high-minded, 
brave, and accomplished. He was transported in a vessel 
called the Vulture, up the North river, as near to West Point 
as was practicable, without exciting suspicion. On the 21st 
of September, at night, a boat was sent from the shore to 
bring him. On its return, Arnold met him at the beach, 
without the posts of either army. 

" Their business was not finished, till too near the dawn 
of day for Andre to return to the Vulture. He, therefore, 
lay concealed within the American lines. During the day, 
the Vulture found it necessary to change her position, and 
Andre, not being able now to get on board, was compelled 
to attempt his return to New York by land. 

" Having changed his military dress for a plain coat, and 
received a passport from Arnold, under the assumed name 
of John Anderson, he passed the guards and outposts without 
suspicion. On arriving at Tarrytown, a village thirty miles 
north of New York, in the vicinity of the first British posts, 
he was met by three militia soldiers — John Paulding, David 
Williams, and Isaac Van Wert. He showed them his pass- 
port, and they suffered him to continue his route. Immedi- 
ately after this, one of these three men, thinking that he per- 
ceived something singular in the person of the traveller, called 
him back. Andre asked them where they were from ? ' From 
down below,' they replied, intending to say, from New York. 
Too frank to suspect a snare, Andre immediately answered, 
* And so am I.' Upon this, they arrested him, when he de- 
clared himself to be a British officer, and offered them his 



454 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1780. 

watch, and all the gold he had with him, to be released. 
These soldiers were poor and obscure, but they were not to 
be bribed. Resolutely refusing his offers, they conducted 
him to Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson, their commanding officer. 

" Jameson injudiciously permitted Andre, still calling him- 
self Anderson, to write to Arnold, who immediately escaped 
on board the Vulture, and took refuge in New York. 

*' Washington, on his way to head-quarters, from Con- 
necticut, where he had been to confer with Count de Rocham- 
beau, providentially happened to be at West Point just at 
this time. After taking measures to insure the safety of the 
fort, he appointed a board, of which General Green was pre- 
sident, to decide upon the condition and punishment of Andre. 
After a patient hearing of the case,- September 29th, in which 
every feeling of kindness, liberality, and generous sympathy 
was strongly evinced, the board, upon his own confession, 
unanimously pronounced Andre a spy, and declared, that, 
agreeably to the laws and usages of nations, he ought to suf- 
fer death. 

" Major Andre had many friends in the American army, 
and even Washington would have spared him, had duty to 
his country permitted. Every possible effort was made by 
Sir Henry Clinton in his favour, but it was deemed impor- 
tant that the decision of the board of war should be carried 
into execution. When Major Andre was apprized of the 
sentence of death, he made a lastappeal, in a letter to Wash- 
ington, that he might be shot, rather then die on a gibbet. 

" ' Buoyed above the terror of death,' said he, ' by the 
consciousness of a life devoted to honourable pursuits, and 
stained with no action that can give me remorse, I trust that 
the request I make to your excellency at this serious period, 
and which is to soften my last moments, will not be rejected. 
Sympathy towards a soldier will surely induce your excel- 
lency, and a military friend, to adapt the mode of my death 
to the feelings of a man of honour. Let me hope, sir, that if 
aught in my character impresses you with esteem towards 
me, as the victim of policy and resentment, I shall experience 



1780.] REVOLUTION. 455 



the operations of those feelings in your breast by being in- 
formed that I am not to die on a gibbet.' 

" This letter of Andre roused the sympathies of Washing- 
ton, and had he only been concerned, the prisoner would have 
been pardoned and released. But the interests of his coun- 
try were at stake, and the sternness of justice demanded that 
private feelings should be sacrificed. Upon consulting his 
officers on the propriety of Major Andre's request, to receive 
the death of a soldier, — to be shot — it was deemed necessary 
to deny it, and to make him an example. On the 2d of Oc- 
tober, this unfortunate young man expired on the gallows, 
while foes and friends universally lamented his untimely end. 

" As a reward to Paulding, Williams, and Van Wert, for 
their virtuous and patriotic conduct, Congress voted to each 
of them an annuity of 200 dollars and a silver medal, on one 
side of which was a shield with this inscription — * Fidelity,' 
— and on the other, the following motto : ' Vincit amor pa- 
triae' — the love of country conquers. 

"Arnold, the miserable wretch, whose machinations led to 
the melancholy fate which Andre experienced, escaped to 
New York, where, as the price of his dishonour, he received 
the commission of brigadier general, and the sum of ten 
thousand pounds sterling. This last boon was the grand 
secret of Arnold's fall from virtue ; his vanity and extrava- 
gance had led him into expenses which it was neither in the 
power nor will of Congress to support." 



456 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

General Gates is succeeded by General Greene — Takes the Field against a supe- 
rior Enemy — Sends Morgan to the western part of South Carolina — Cornwallis 
sends Col. Tarleton after Morgan — Battle of the Cowpens — Terrible Rout of Tarle- 
ton and Destruction of his light Troops. 

" I have no words, 
My voice is in my sword ; thou bloodier villain 
Than terms can give thee out !" 

After the unfortunate battle of Camden, Gates made every 
effort in his power to assemble troops and support the cause 
of Congress ; but Congress and Washington had decided that 
General Greene should be intrusted with the command of 
the southern provinces. The conduct of Gates upon this 
occasion was highly honourable, betraying no ill feelings 
whatever ; and when he passed through Richmond, Virginia, 
he was treated with marked attention and respect. 

General Greene took the field, against an enemy superior 
in force, with an army consisting of only 2000 men, more 
than one-half of whom were militia. As his intention was 
merely to harass the enemy, avoiding general actions, he 
divided his force, sending General Morgan to the western 
part of South Carolina. 

Cornwallis was just on the point of invading North Caro- 
lina, but deeming it imprudent to leave such a man as Mor- 
gan in his rear, he sent Colonel Tarleton to fight him, and 
" to push him to the last." It so happened, however, that 
Tarleton got pushed very hard himself. 

On the 17th of January, 1781, the two detachments met, 
when the memorable battle of the Cowpens was fought, 
resulting in one of the most brilliant victories achieved during 
the revolution. 

As the force of Morgan amounted to only about 500 men, 
part of whom were militia, while that of Tarleton consisted 
of 1000, the flower of the British army, he retreated for 
some time ; but arriving at the place called the Cowpens, and 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 457 

finding himself hard pressed by Tarleton, while a broad river 
which lay before him could not be crossed in the presence of 
the enemy without very great danger, he made a stand, resolv- 
ing to give battle. The troops were formed in two divisions ; 
the militia, under Colonel Pickens, were placed in front of a 
wood, while the second, under Colonel Howard, was con- 
cealed in the wood ; these were marksmen, and old conti- 
nental troops. Colonel Washington, with his cavalry, was 
stationed behind the second division, as a reserve. Tarleton 
came up and formed in two lines, when the battle commenced. 
The American militia fled on the first charge. The enemy 
fell on the second, where a most obstinate resistance was 
made ; but Tarleton pushing forward a battalion of his second 
line, and ordering a charge of cavalry on the right flank of 
the Americans at the same time, they gave way and were 
thrown in disorder. Colonel Washington, who had already 
repulsed an assault of the enemy's cavalry, charged the ene- 
my with such impetuosity, that he restored the battle. In 
the meantime, Pickens and Howard had rallied their men, 
who were led back to the fight. 

Taking advantage of this auspicious period, Morgan made 
a general charge, like a lion rushing from the forest upon his 
prey. The enemy, unable to sustain such a shock, first 
paused, then recoiled, and soon fled in dismay. The Ameri- 
cans pursued, killed, and took prisoners nearly the whole de- 
tachment. The loss of the enemy was over 800 in killed, 
wounded, and prisoners. All their baggage, carriages, and 
a great number of horses, also fell into the hands of the vic- 
tors. The loss of the Americans was only 12 killed and 60 
wounded. This astonishing victory produced a great effect 
in reviving the courage of the people of the south. They 
had been treated with great cruelty by Tarleton, who was 
one of the greatest petty tyrants that ever disgraced the 
British name. 

Congress voted public thanks to Morgan, and presented 
him with a gold medal. Colonels Washington and Howard 
received silver medals, and Colonel Pickens a sword. These 
four heroes reflected a lustre back upon Greene, who sent them. 

58 2o 



458 THB ARMT AND NAVY. [1781. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Cornwallis pursues Morgan — Greene forms a Junction with him — Singular 
Escapes of Morgan by the Rising of Rivers — Greene retreats towards Virginia — 
Crosses the River Dan — Narrow Escape — Evades the Enemy and now bids them 
Defiance — The Enemy now barks at Greene in the Form of a Proclamation — 
Greene sends a Detachment across the Dan — Re-crosses the Dan himself — Battle 
at Guilford Court-House — Greene leads his Forces to South Carolina — Battle of 
Camden — Battle of the Eutaw Springs — Cornwallis marches to Virginia. 

" My friends, I love your fame, I joy to raise 
The high-toned anthem of my country's praise." 

The news of an ordinary defeat would have been a great 
affliction to Cornwallis ; but the destruction of his light troops 
at the commencement of the campaign, by an inferior force, 
was a blow that could not be fully repaired. In order to 
make light troops, he was obliged to destroy his heavy bag- 
gage and carriages, which required two days. How much 
of this had been stolen from the unarmed inhabitants, we are 
unable to say ; but the soldiers saw it destroyed, we are told, 
with a very good grace. 

Cornwallis marched in pursuit of Morgan, who had given 
such an uncourteous reception to his detachment ; but Greene, 
penetrating his design, hastened to join Morgan. The junc- 
tion was at last effected at Guilford Court-House, in North 
Carolina. Morgan was fiercely pursued by an enemy, burn- 
ing with revenge, and after crossing the Catawba river the 
enemy appeared on the opposite bank. The rains which had 
fallen raised the river, and it was no longer fordable. By 
throwing many obstacles in the way of the enemy, Morgan 
succeeded in reaching the Yadkin river ; and this again he 
crossed just in time to escape, when another rain again raised 
the river, and prevented the immediate pursuit of the enemy. 
After the union of the two generals, Greene, of course, as- 
sumed the command, and, being still inferior in numbers, he 
continued the retreat towards Virginia. 

Cornwallis, failing in his extraordinary efforts to prevent a 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 459 



junction of the American generals, sought to indemnify him- 
self for his losses, toils, and privations, by cutting off Greene's 
retreat. The race was now for the river Dan, which sepa- 
rated North Carolina from Virginia. Cornwallis hastened to 
the high country, believing that the river would not be ford- 
able in the lower parts. The enemy, after the most prodi- 
gious exertions, occupied the upper fords first, and Greene 
was obliged to hasten to a lower ford, called Boyd's Ferry, 
without knowing whether it was practicable or not. The 
British pursued rapidly, and upon the passage of this river 
depended the safety of the army. Greene arrives at the 
river and finds it fordable, but the enemy are near. He 
throws impediments in their way ; keeps up continual skir- 
mishes, and reminds his officers that on their firm resistance 
depended the salvation of the whole army. He reached the 
opposite shore in safety, with all his baggage, and the enemy 
appeared on the right side of the Dan. But it is too late. 
They saw the American army formed in formidable array on 
the opposite bank. In this imposing attitude, with all Vir- 
ginia to aid them, Cornwallis knew it would be in vain to 
attempt to conquer with his enfeebled troops. The bright 
visions of the enemy at once vanished, and they retired to 
Hillsborough and issued a proclamation. 

The talents displayed in the retreat of Greene and Mor- 
gan, would have done honour to any general of ancient or 
modern times. 

Greene, to guard against any extensive operations of the 
loyalists of North Carolina, detached anew, upon the right 
side of the Dan, a body of cavalry under Colonel Lee. This 
was not only to intimidate the royalists, but to protect and 
encourage the republicans. 

A number of loyalists were assembled by Colonel Pill, but 
Lee soon swallowed him, with his whole company, all being 
killed or taken prisoners. Tarleton now advanced against 
Lee, but an order of Cornwallis directed him back to Hills- 
borough. The cause of this was, that Greene, after receiving 
a small reinforcement, like a second Washington, had re- 
crossed the Dan, and seemed on the point of carrying the 



460 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 



war, like a whirlwind, over the State. Cornwallis left Hills- 
borough, and, after both generals had manoeuvred with un- 
common abilities for a long time, Greene avoiding a general 
action until the arrival of his expected reinforcements, the 
two armies met at Guilford Court-House ; but not until the 
American general had received his reinforcements, when he 
made the first move against the enemy. 

" On the 8th of March, a general engagement took place, 
in which victory, after alternately passing to the banners of 
each army, finally decided in favour of the British. 

" The British loss, in this battle, exceeded five hundred in 
killed and wounded, among whom were several of the most 
distinguished officers. The American loss was about four 
hundred in killed and wounded, of which more than three- 
fourths fell upon the continentals. Though the numerical 
force of General Greene nearly doubled that of Cornwallis, 
yet, when we consider the difference between these forces, 
the shameful conduct of the North Carolina militia, who fled 
at the first fire, the desertion of the second Maryland regi- 
ment, and that a body of reserve was not brought into action, 
it will appear that our numbers actually engaged but little 
exceeded that of the enemy. 

" Notwithstanding the issue of the above battle. General 
Greene took the bold resolution of leading back his forces to 
South Carolina, and of attacking the enemy's strong post at 
Camden, in that State. Accordingly, on the 20th, he en- 
camped at Logtown, within sight of the enemy's works. 
Lord Rawdon at this time held the command of Camden, and 
had a force of only nine hundred men. The army of General 
Greene — a detachment having been made for another expedi- 
tion under General Lee — amounted scarcely to twelve hun- 
dred men of all classes. 

" On the 25th, Lord Rawdon drew out his forces, and the 
two armies engaged. For a season victory seemed inclined 
to the Americans, but, in the issue. General Greene found 
himself obliged to retreat. 

" The American loss, in killed, wounded, and missing, was 
I two hundred and sixty-eight ; the English loss was nearly 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 461 



equal. The failure of the victory in this battle was not attri- 
butable, as in some cases, to the flight of the militia, when 
danger had scarcely begun — but General Greene experienced 
the mortification of seeing a regiment of veterans give way 
to an inferior force, when every circumstance was in their 
favour — the very regiment, too, which, at the battle of the 
Cowpens, behaved with such heroic bravery. 

"Although the British arms gained the victory of Camden, 
the result of the whole was favourable to the American cause. 
General Lee, with a detachment despatched for that purpose, 
while Greene was marching against Camden, took possession 
of an important post at Mottes, near the confluence of the 
Congaree and Santee rivers. This auspicious event was fol- 
lowed by the evacuation of Camden by Lord Rawdon, and 
of the whole line of British posts, with the exception of 
Ninety-Six and Charleston. 

" Ninety-Six, one hundred and forty-seven miles north-west 
from Charleston, was garrisoned by five hundred and sixty 
men. Against this post, after the battle of Camden, General 
Greene took up his march, and on the 22d of May sat down 
before it. Soon after the siege of it had been commenced, 
intelligence arrived that Lord Rawdon had been reinforced 
by troops from Ireland, and was on his march with two thou- 
sand men for its relief. Greene now determined upon an 
assault; but in this he failed, with a loss of one hundred and 
fifty men. 

" Soon after his arrival at Ninety-Six, Lord Rawdon deemed 
it expedient to evacuate this post. Retiring, himself, to 
Charleston, his army encamped at the Eutaw Springs, forty 
miles from Charleston. 

" General Greene, having retired to the high hills of Santee, 
to spend the hot and sickly season, in September approached 
the enemy at the Eutaw Springs. On the morning of the 
8th, he advanced upon him, and the battle between the two 
armies became general. The contest was sustained with 
equal bravery on both sides — victory seeming to decide in 
favour of neither. 

*' The British lost, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, about 

— _ 



462 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 



one thousand one hundred. The loss of the Americans was 
five hundred and fifty-five. 

" The battle at Eutaw Springs was the last general action 
that took place in South Carolina, and nearly finished the 
war in that quarter. The enemy now retired to Charleston. 

" Thus closed the campaign of 1781 in South Carolina. 
Few commanders have ever had greater difficulties to en- 
counter than General Greene ; and few have ever, with the 
same means, accomplished so much. Though never so deci- 
sively victorious, yet the battles which he fought, either from 
necessity or choice, were always so well managed as to result 
to his advantage. 

" Not unmindful of his eminent services, Congress pre- 
sented him with a British standard, and a gold medal, em- 
blematical of the action at the Eutaw Springs, which restored 
a sister State to the American Union. Had it pleased Pro- 
vidence to take away Washington during the revolution, 
Greene would have been his successor. 

"After the battle of Guilford, between Greene and Corn- 
wallis, noticed above, the latter, leaving South Carolina in 
charge of Lord Rawdon, commenced his march towards Pe- 
tersburg, in Virginia, where he arrived on the 20th of May. 
Having received several reinforcements, he found himself 
with an army of eight thousand men, and indulged the pleas- 
ing anticipations that Virginia would soon be made to yield 
to his arms." 

While Colonel Tarleton was making his predatory excur- 
sion through Virginia, nine of his men went to a tavern to 
rob and plunder as usual. Peter Francisco became an object 
of their attention ; and, among other things, a pair of shoe- 
buckles were found on Peter, which were fashionable in those 
days. A British officer, with drawn sword, approached our 
hero and demanded his buckles. Peter, being defenceless, 
told him to take them, when the officer placed his sword un- 
der his arm and stooped to take them from Peter's shoes. 
Peter was one of the strongest men in the State ; and, watch- 
ing his opportunity, he very slyly took the sword from under 
the arm of the Briton and laid him at his feet ; then falling 



1781.] 



REVOLUTION. 



463 



upon the rest, he dealt destruction on all sides, and routed the 
whole of them ! 

The reader will perceive that Peter is in a fair way of 
retaining his buckles to ornament his shoes many a day., 
while the Briton on horseback is less likely to hold on to his 
gun ; his countenance, bespeaking anything but exultation, 
seems to indicate that he considers himself in rather a dan- 
gerous position. Lay it on, Peter ; you are ridding our coun- 
try of robbers and murderers, who would have had the auda- 
city to rob you of your buckles ! The man who looks on 
seems somewhat amazed ; and the negroes, showing the white 
of the eye rather largely and using their legs very freely, 
seem somewhat alarmed. I am told Peter is still living, 
which shows he knew as well how to escape from Tarleton's 
four hundred soldiers as to conquer nine of them. — Huzza for 
Peter ! 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Washington mancEuvres before New York — Directs his Course to Yorktown — 
Reaches Chesapeake Bay — Arrival of Count de Grasse — Wading through the 
Susquehanna — Arrival of Count de Barres — Siege of Yorktown — Efforts of Corn- 
wallis — Storming of Redoubts — Critical Situation of Cornwallis — Surrender of 
Cornwallis — Terms of Capitulation — Rejoicings of the People — Dissection of a 
King — End of the War — Courtship and Marriage of Washington — Prayer of 
Washington. 

" The drying up a single tear has more 
Of honest fame, than shedding seas of gore. 

And why 1 because it brings self-approbation, 

Whereas the other, after all its glare, 
Shouts, bridges, arches, pensions from a nation — 

Which (it may be) has not much left to spare — 
A higher title, or a loftier station, 

Though they may make corruption gape or stare. 
Yet, in the end, except in freedom'' s battles. 
Are nothinsT but a child of murder's rattles. 



464 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 



And such they are — and such they will be found. 

Not so Leonidas and Washington, 
Whose every battle-field is holy ground. 

Which breathes of nations saved, not worlds undone. 
How sweetly on the ear such echoes sound I 

While the mere victors may appal or stun 
The servile and the vain, such names will be 
A watchword till the future shall be free." 

"And seas and continents his voice obey." 

Here, in this sacred spot, beneath the cedar and the pine, 
where the cactus flourishes, and the wild rose blooms ; where 
the mocking-bird sings in the grove, and the fawn steals 
timidly away, and where, sixty-three years ago, Washington 
stood directing a great siege, we now wander to study the 
battle-ground of Yorktown. 

Yorktown is situated on the south side of York river, ele- 
ven miles from its mouth ; and opposite is Gloucester, another 
village, on a point of land projecting far into the river, leav- 
ing the stream only one mile wide, though it is from three to 
four miles wide above and below. 

" Time, war, flood, and fire, 



Have dealt upon the seven-hill'd city's pride." 

This is literally true, except the flood, and instead of York- 
town being built on seven hills, it is on no hill at all, but 
merely on a high bank. The town is still in ruins ; the siege, 
and subsequent fire, have left only a remnant of what it was 
before. The lizard crawls through the tall weeds in the 
ruined church ; and the walls of the cemetery being levelled 
with the earth, enables brutes to rove about among the sculp- 
tured monuments of the illustrious dead. The number of in- 
habitants is only one hundred and twenty. 

The battles were fought all around the town, on the plan- 
tation of Governor Nelson, one of the signers of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, who had been elevated by Congress 
to the rank of brigadier-general, and who was now at the 
head of a detachment of Virginia militia. His house soon 
became a shapeless heap of ruins ; his land covered with en- 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 465 



trenchments, forts and redoubts ; but the same spirit which, 
in 1774, dictated the letters to members of the British Par- 
liament, and to others, which his grandson, William Nelson, 
the present owner pf the plantation, had the kindness to show 
us, and which now appear as oracles of inspiration, not only 
made him indifferent to the destruction of his own property, 
but a large portion of his private fortune was distributed 
with a bounteous hand, to supply the wants of the army. 
By the aid of the documents of Governor Nelson, and the 
kind assistance of Mr. William Nelson, who took me over 
the plantation, pointing out the parallels, redoubts and forts, 
still to be distinctly seen, I was able to learn the entire plan 
of operations of the besiegers and the besieged. 

We wandered about, and studied the battle-ground, for a 
period of three days, when we sat down at the place already 
alluded to, and in imagination fought the battles over again, 
as follows : 

Washington had intrusted Lafayette with the defence of 
Virginia ; and the young hero, who was called a boy by 
Cornwallis, hung on the proud lord's back like an incubus, 
harassing him, repressing his excursions — now driving back 
his foraging parties — then fighting the British vigorously — 
until, at length, he shrewdly conducted Cornwallis to York- 
town. 

When Lafayette had hoaxed Cornwallis, and Washington 
alarmed and hoaxed Sir Henry Clinton, by his pretended 
siege of New York, the commander-in-chief suddenly turned 
to the right, back of the mountains, between the interior of 
the State of New Jersey and the district on the sea-coast, 
hurried his army to the Delaware — waded through the water 
near Trenton, below the falls — marched to Philadelphia, and 
defiled before the assembled Congress. 

Reaching the head of Elk river, at the bottom of the Che- 
sapeake Bay, there were not vessels enough to embark the 
two armies, whose vanguards, composed of grenadiers and 
chasseurs, alone were taken away, while all the rest, with 
the field-artillery and baggage, continued their march to 

Baltimore and Annapolis, whither Count de Grasse, who 
_ 



466 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 



had arrived in the bay, was to send all the boats he could 
spare. 

But on their vs^ay to Baltimore the Susquehanna had to be 
crossed, which could not be accomplished with sujfficient ex- 
pedition in a few ferry-boats, the only means in possession of 
the army, if they would cross near the mouth of the river. 
Count Dumas, to whom orders had been given to direct this 
passage, being informed by the country people that the river 
was fordable, during the fine season, just below the falls, and 
twenty miles above its mouth, repaired to the place with 
guides. He examined the ford, and found it rather forbid- 
ding ; but he rushed through water four feet deep, over broken 
rocks and loose boulders, with artillery, horses, and other 
impediments, and arrived on the opposite shore with very little 
loss. We feel disposed, even at this late period, to give the 
count three cheers for this daring enterprise. It was certainly 
the most expeditious mode of surmounting a difficulty. 

The York river was blockaded by the French fleet to pre- 
vent Cornwallis from escaping, or receiving reinforcements 
from Clinton, and the James river, to establish a communica- 
tion with Lafayette, who was at Williamsburg, only a few 
miles from Yorktown, where, it was feared, he might be over- 
whelmed by Cornwallis, who, discovering his danger, might 
thus attempt to escape into the Carolinas. Three thousand 
French troops were sent up James river, under Marquis de 
St. Simon, to make a junction with Lafayette. 

The Count de Grasse, having handled the British squadron 
under Admiral Graves very roughly, during which time the 
Count de Barras, with his artillery and munitions of war, 
from Rhode Island, entered the channel, the French had en- 
tire command of the bay. After disembarking their imple- 
ments of siege, they were at leisure to convey Washington's 
army from Annapolis to the mouth of the James river, and 
up that river to Williamsburg. All the army was here united 
on the 26th and 27th of September, 1781. From the head 
of Elk river, General Washington and Count Rochambeau, 
with a light escort, had departed first, and by forced marches 
of sixty miles a day, had arrived at Williamsburg on the 14th 



1781.] REVOIiUTION. 467 



of September, from which place they were at once conveyed 
on board the Ville de Paris, the flag-ship of Count de 
Grasse, where a council was held as to their future ope- 
rations. 

In the meantime Cornwallis was busy in entrenching him- 
self at Yorktown and Gloucester, obstructing the river with 
some of his ships, which he sunk in the channel. His fortifi- 
cations, thrown up with the most indefatigable industry, 
were strengthened by wood-work. On the east end of the 
town, he constructed a fort, which is almost perfect to this 
day : extending from this, his works encircled the town. 
East of the fort, at a distance of several hundred yards, is a 
very deep ravine ; and still further east are the remains of 
two redoubts, six hundred yards from the fort ; of these we 
shall have occasion to speak again. Independent of the works 
around and near Yorktown, which extend from the edge of the 
river below the town, his lordship had constructed a number 
of redoubts at some distance from the main works, which he 
was obliged to abandon, with few exceptions, on the approach of 
the allies, to guard against being outflanked and cut oflf from 
his shipping and Gloucester point. The command of the lat- 
ter had been given to a detachment of six hundred men under 
Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton. 

And now they come — Washington, Rochambeau, Lafayette 
— the love of freedom blazing in their souls ; the destiny of 
the present and future generations revolving in their tower- 
ing minds. The armies march ; the earth trembles beneath 
their feet. The French corps of 7000 men, under Rocham- 
beau, their commander-in-chief, are ordered by Washington 
to take the upper half of the semicircle ; to extend the in- 
vestment from the river, above Yorktown, to a morass near 
Governor Nelson's house ; to take advantage of the wood, 
creek, &c., blocking up the enemy in that quarter within pis- 
tol-shot of their works. 

The American army now passes the morasses, over bridges 
which they had repaired, and Yorktown is completely in- 
vested. About the same time, the Duke de Lauzun, with his 
legion, and a detachment of Virginia militia under General 



• 468 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 



Weedon, took a position in front of and blockaded Gloucester 
point. The combined armies amounted to about 16,000 ; the 
British to about one-half that number. 

The trenches are next opened by the allies, in the night 
of the 6th and 7th of October. Amid the roar of artillery, 
they pushed their works with such energy, that the first par- 
allel, extending for miles around the town, was soon com- 
pleted, the batteries erected and covered with nearly one 
hundred pieces of ordnance. 

Hark ! the voice of freedom speaks from the mouths of a 
hundred cannon, the only argument that tyrants will hear ; 
and while the British defences were falling faster than the 
labour and perseverance of the soldiers could construct and 
repair them, the appalling truth was once more forced upon 
their proud and stubborn minds, that the republicans have an 
arm to strike and a soul to dare as well as they, the proudest 
mercenaries of relentless oppressors. 

The besiegers begin the second parallel, only three hun- 
dred yards from the British works. A deluge of bombs and 
balls is poured from the enemy's lines, but their own batte- 
ries are soon silenced by the fire of the first parallel of the 
Americans. 

The two advanced redoubts below the fort of the enemy, 
of which we have already spoken, interfering with the com- 
pletion of the besiegers' second parallel, by their incessant 
and galling fire, Washington resolved to take them by storm. 
One of these redoubts is on the high bank of the river, the 
other a few hundred yards from it. In order to excite a spi- 
rit of emulation, (for they could see each other,) Washington 
ordered Lafayette, at the head of American light-infantry, to 
storm the redoubt next the river, and Baron Viomesnil, at the 
head of some French grenadiers, to take the other. Relying 
entirely upon their bayonets, the Americans, with unloaded 
guns, rushed forward with extreme impetuosity. Col. Hamil- 
ton leading the van, 

"An Ithacus in camn, an Ajax in the field," — 
drove some of the enemy headlong over a precipice one hun- 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 469 



dred feet high, killed a few, and astonished and took nearly 
all the remainder prisoners. The French, with a little more 
fighting, carried the other redoubt at the point of the bayonet. 
These redoubts were soon included in the second parallel. 
The firing of the Americans is now^ one continuous peal of 
deafening thunder. The deer starts in terror from his lair ; 
the wild bird screams ; the liberated steed forgets to graze, 
bounds away, then stops and snuffs the air, and runs again. 
The dog howls piteously, crouches and seeks his master's aid. 
The war-steed, with arched neck, champs the bit, tugs the 
rein, and paws the ground, eager to rush into the midst of 
danger, as if he too had power to acquire or rights to main- 
tain. The mortars and cannon pour shells, balls and grape- 
shot with terrible effect upon the enemy's works. 

" Round the pent foe approaching breastworks rise, 
And bombs, like meteors, vault the flaming skies. 
Night, with her hovering wings, asserts in vain 
The shades, the silence of her rightful reign ; 
High roars her canopy with fiery flakes, 
And War stalks wilder through the glare he makes." 

The British lines are falling all around them ; their guns 
are silenced ; the shipping is set on fire by the shells of the 
allies ; and at night, the flames rise up to heaven and disclose all 
the horrors of the deadly strife. 

Washington directs the storm ; he 

" Views the tempest with collected soul, 



And fates of empires in his bosom roll." 

The brave, the proud lord, who strove for empire, now be- 
comes an alarmed fugitive, attempts to escape with his army 
across the river, to carry desolation into other parts of the 
country. But the elements of heaven conspire against him ; 
the mandates of a righteous God have gone forth, that a na- 
tion, striving in so just, so glorious a cause, shall cease to 
bleed, and the storm defeats the enterprise. 

He sues for mercy now ; he who before had only known 
how to command. 

True greatness and generosity are inseparable; Washing- 



470 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 

ton, who could bend the strong in arms, also knew how to 
spare the feeble hand. " He was like the stream of many 
tides against the foes of his people, but like the gale that 
moves the grass to those who asked his aid. His arm was 
the support of the injured ; the weak rested behind the light- 
ning of his steel." With brow serene he meets the fallen foe, 
and conducts him to Moore's house, built in the old English 
style, and beautifully situated a few hundred yards from the 
river. 

Here the terms of capitulation were signed, which made 
Cornwallis and his army, on both sides of the river, prisoners 
of war ; and the vanquished garrison defiled at two o'clock, 
on the 19th of October, between the two allied armies, with 
drums beating, carrying their arms, which they piled, with 
twenty pair of colours, in a field near the town. 

The British officers manifested the most bitter mortifica- 
tion. Colonel Abercrombie rapidly withdrew from the Eng- 
lish guards, whom he had commanded, covering his face and 
biting his sword. 

But we must endeavour to dispose of that sword of Corn- 
wallis, which has so much puzzled historians. I have seen 
paintings of Cornwallis delivering his sword in person to 
Gen. Lincoln. I have seen engravings of the same officer in 
the act of presenting his sword to Washington. These are 
poetic licenses, like those of a poet, who, in speaking of this 
siege, mined and blew up a citadel, where none ever existed. 
With the destruction of this ideal strong-hold, he makes reel- 
ing mountains roar, fills the air with guns, bastions, maga- 
zines ; and startles the British commander with the astounding 
earthquake, while he beholds his chosen veterans whirling 
down the skies. 

The truth is simply this : Gen. Lincoln, at the siege of 
Charleston, had been obliged to surrender to the British, and 
Washington now appoints him to receive the submission of 
the British army, and to 



-" guide, with modest air, 



The last glad triumph of the finish'd war.' 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 471 

Cornwallis felt or feigned sickness, and constituted General 
O'Hara his representative. The latter, coming up to the 
Count Rochambeau, presented his sword to him ; the count 
pointed to General Washington, who was opposite, at the 
head of the American army, and told him that the French 
army being auxiliaries on the continent, it was the American 
general who was to signify his orders to him. 

Lieutenant-General Count Dumas says : " I had orders to 
go and meet the troops of the garrison, and to direct the 
columns. I placed myself at General O'Hara'fe left hand. 
As we approached the trenches, he asked me where General 
Rochambeau was. * On our left,' I said, * at the head of the 
French line.' The English general urged his horse forward 
to present his sword to the French general. Guessing his 
intention, I galloped on to the place myself, between him and 
M. de Rochambeau, who at that moment made me a sign, 
pointing to General Washington, who was opposite to him, 
at the head of the American army. * You are mistaken,' 
said I to the General O'Hara, * the commander-in-chief of 
our army is on the right.' I accompanied him, and the mo- 
ment that he presented his sword. General Washington, anti- 
cipating him, said, ' Never from such a good hand.' " 

Washington, it would appear, entertained a regard for the 
personal character of O'Hara, and did not wish to increase 
chagrin and mortification by taking his sword. The mag- 
nanimous conqueror, satisfied with having deprived the offi- 
cers of the means of injuring his country, declined gratifying 
his own pride by humbling a fallen foe. Four young poplars, 
however, mark the spot where the sword was surrendered, but 
not received either by Washington or Lincoln. 

If argument were necessary to confirm the assertions of 
such respectable authority, let it be remembered, the terms 
of capitulation were, in general, the same which had been 
granted to General Lincoln at Charleston, eighteen months 
before ; and we are told, by American and British historians, 
that on that occasion the officers retained their arms and 
baggage. 

The glad tidings of victory spread over the length and 



472 THE ARMY AND NAVV. [1781. 



breadth of the land. Joy exhilarates the soul of every free- 
man ; they congratulate each other, by a hearty shake of 
both hands. The farmer stops his labour, throws down his 
hat and leaps for joy ; the mechanic rushes out of his shop 
to convey the happy news to his friends, and to hear more. 
The orator mounts the rostrum, and pours forth his gratitude 
in spirit-stirring eloquence. The sick man raises his head 
from the pillow, and finds himself much better. Every heart 
is full of gratitude ; a few men really lose their senses, and 
one old patriot in Philadelphia died in ecstacy. 

The people hastened to the churches, and poured forth their 
souls in prayer to God for their glorious victory over their 
oppressors. In these prayers, proceeding from hearts over- 
flowing with gratitude, could be heard the names of Wash- 
ington, Rochambeau, Lafayette; many a sweet voice, breathed 
through rosy lips, pronounced the name of the father of his 
people ; many a white hand was raised to heaven to invoke 
kindred spirits to shower their blessings upon his head. These 
were times that tried men's souls, and such a victory tried 
them again. 

The sirocco blast of a six years' war had already raged 
over the land, but now the people feel their might ; and what 
madman would prolong the war in behalf of his king? Who 
would now stem the torrent of public opinion, of a nation of 
patriots ? Return, ye hirelings of an idiot king, and tell your 
master, that when he hears the deep hollow thunder of the 
cataract of Niagara, mingled with the roar of the long and 
angry rapids, to entreat it to cease its appalling din and tu- 
multuous uproar. When the terrors of the volcano shake 
mountains to their bases, and rivers of fire rush over human 
habitations, with deafening roar and thundering explosions, 
then let him tell those plutonian workshops to calm their agi- 
tated breasts, to hush their terrors, to cease their devastations, 
and sink into the repose of a horrid sleep. When the earth- 
quake upheaves the earth, shakes cities into fragments, rolls 
the sea in mountain billows to the shore, then let him threaten 
it with tax-laws, and command it to stop the dread ruin and 
wide-spread consternation which it occasions. Then, then let 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 473 

him tell the Americans to abandon their rights and submit to 
his gracious will. 

Why should a nation groan under the rack of one indivi- 
dual, who has usurped a power, and claimed a right to rule 
merely because his ancestors ruled with a delegated power'? 
What entitles him to that station ? When did his divine right 
begin? Was it in oppression and wrong, violence and mur- 
der ; or through the asrencv of those he first wronged and 
then led against other countries? A king ! what is he, George 
III. ? — Many a negro's name was George — a first, a second, 
a third! — A king! What is he? — Dissect him and you find 
his skeleton is composed of bones, just like those of a beggar, 
and perhaps a worse subject. His muscles less perfectly de- 
veloped than those of the healthy labourer ; his blood conta- 
minated by debauchery and disease ; his brain probably a 
very ordinary specimen; his heart of the same physical. con- 
formation as those of other sons of Adam ; and in a moral 
sense, probably more corrupt than the majority of others : 
and yet this poor specimen of humanity would castigate a 
nation by divine authority ! 

The fall of Cornwallis m.ay be considered the end of the 
revolution. A few skirmishes only indicated a continuation 
of hostilities. 

Congress appointed John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, John 
Jay, and Henry Laurens, commissioners for negotiating peace 
with Great Britain. They met Mr. Fitzherbert and Mr. 
Oswald, on the part of England, at Paris, where provisional 
articles of peace between the two countries were signed No- 
vember 30th, 1782. The definitive treaty was signed on the 
30th of September, 1783, w^hich acknowledged our indepen- 
dence. 

The army was disbanded — Washington issuexi his farewell 
orders — bade adieu to his soldiers — took leave of his officers, 
resigned his commission to Congress, and retired to his seat 
at Mount Vernon to enjoy the delights of private life. In a 
short time, however, he became the first in the cabinet, as he 
had been the first in the field. 

Before we take leave oi our great hero, we shall select a 

60 27* 



474 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 



rich gem for the ladies, if they will honour us with a perusal 
of our book. The ladies know that the brave honour, respect 
and love them, and tiie following article will show whether 
Washington had any time to devote to them. 

" Descended from an ancient family, which first migrated 
to the colony of Virginia in the person of the Rev. Orlando 
Jones, a clergyman of Wales, Martha Dandridge was born 
in the county of New Kent, colony of Virginia, in May, 1732. 
The education of females, in the early days of the colonial 
settlements, was almost exclusively of a domestic character, 
and by instructors who were entertained in the principal 
families, that were too few and too " far between" to admit 
of the establishment of public schools. Of the early life of 
Miss Dandridge we are only able to record, that the young 
lady excelled in personal charms, which, with pleasing man- 
ners, and a general amiability of demeanor, caused her to be 
distinguished amid the fair ones who usually assembled at 
the court of Williamsburg, then held by the royal governors 
of Virginia. 

"At seventeen years of age, or in 1749, Miss Dandridge 
was married to Colonel Daniel Parke Custis, of the White 
House, county of New Kent. This was a match of affection. 
The father of the bridegroom, the Honourable John Custis, 
of Arlington, a king's counsellor, had matrimonial views of a 
more ambitious character for his only son and heir, and was 
desirous of a connexion with the Byrd family, of Westover, 
Colonel Byrd being at that time, from his influence and vast 
possessions, almost a count palatine of Virginia. The coun- 
sellor having at length given his consent, the newly married 
pair^ settled at the White House, on the banks of the Pa- 
munkey river, where Colonel Custis became an eminently 
successful planter. The fruits of this marriage were, a girl, 
who died in infancy, and Daniel, Martha, and John. Daniel 
was a child of much promise, and it was generally believed, 
that his untimely death hastened his father to the grave. 
Martha arrived at womanhood, and died at Mount Vernon 
in 1770, and John, the father of the biographer, (George W. 
P. Custis, Esq., of Arlington, D. C.) perished while in the ser- 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 475] 

vice of his country, in the suite of the commander-in-chief, 
at the siege of Yorktovvn, 1781, aged twenty-seven. 

" On the decease of her husband, which happened about 
middle age, Mrs. Custis found herself at once a very young, 
and among the wealthiest widows in the colony. Indepen- 
dently of extensive and valuable landed estates, the colonel 
left thirty thousand pounds sterling in money, with half that 
amount to his only daughter, Martha. It is related of this 
amiable gentleman that, when on his death-bed, he sent for a 
tenant, to whom, in settling an account, he was due one shil- 
ling. The tenant begged that the colonel, who had ever 
been most kind to his tenantry, would not trouble himself 
at all about such a trifle, as he, the tenant, had forgotten it 
long ago. 'But I have not;' rejoined the just and conscien- 
tious landlord, and, bidding his creditor take up the coin, 
which had been purposely placed on his pillow, exclaimed, 
' Now my accounts are all closed with this world ;' and 
shortly after expired. Mrs. Custis, as sole executrix, man- 
aged the extensive landed and pecuniary concerns of the 
estates with surprising ability ; making loans, on mortgage, 
of moneys, and, through her stewards and agents, conducting 
the sales or exportation of the crops to the best possible ad- 
vantage. 

" While on the subject of the moneyed concerns of seventy 
years ago, we hope to be pardoned for a brief digression. 
An orchard of fine apple trees is yet standing near Bladens- 
burg, that was presented to a Mr. Ross, by the father of the 
late venerable Charles Carroll, of Carrollton, as a recompense 
for Mr. Ross's having introduced to Mr. Carroll a good bor- 
rower of his money. A Colonel T., one of the ancient dons 
of Maryland, being observed riding over the race-course of 
Annapolis in a very disturbed and anxious manner, was ac- 
costed by his friends with a ' What 's the matter, Colonel ? 
Are you alarmed for the success of your filly, about to start V 
' Oh, no,' replied T., * but I have a thousand pounds by me, 
to loan, and here have I been riding about the course the 
whole morning, and not a single borrower can I get for my 



476 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 

money.' We opine the same anxieties would not be long 
suffered in 1834. 

*' It was in 1758 that an officer, attired in a military un- 
dress, and attended by a body-servant, tall and militaire as 
his chief, crossed the ferry called Williams's, over the Pamun- 
key, a branch of the York river. On the boat touching the 
southern or New Kent side, the soldier's progress was ar- 
rested by one of those personages who give the beau ideal of 
the Virginia gentleman of the old regime, the very soul of 
kindness and hospitality. It was in vain the soldier urged 
his business at Williamsburgh, important communications to 
the governor, &c. Mr. Chamberlayne, on whose domain the 
militaire had just landed, would hear of no excuse. Colonel 
Washington was a name and character so dear to all the Vir- 
ginians, that his passing by one of the castles of Virginia, 
without calling and partaking of the hospitalities of the host, 
was entirely out of the question. The colonel, however, did 
not surrender at discretion, but stoutly maintained his ground, 
till Chamberlayne bringing up his reserve, in the intimation 
that he would introduce his friend to a young and charming 
widow, then beneath his roof, the soldier capitulated, on con- 
dition that he should dine, only dine, and then, by pressing 
his charger and borrowing of the night, he would reach Wil- 
liamsburg before his excellency could shake off his morning 
slumbers. Orders were accordingly issued to Bishop, the 
colonel's body-servant and faithful follower, who, together 
with the fine English charger, had been bequeathed by the 
dying Braddock to Major Washington, on the famed and fatal 
field of the Monongahela. Bishop, bred in the school of Eu- 
ropean discipline, raised his hand to his cap, as much as to 
say, ' Your honour's orders shall be obeyed.' 

" The colonel now proceeded to the mansion, and was in- 
troduced to various guests, (for when was a Virginian domi- 
cil of the olden time without guests?) and, above all, to the 
charming widow. Tradition relates that they were mutually 
pleased on this their first interview, nor is it remarkable ; 
they were of an age when impressions are strongest. The 
lady was fair to behold, of fascinating manners, and splen- 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 477 

didly endowed with worldly benefits; the hero fresh from 
early fields, redolent of fame, with a form on which 

' Every god did seem to set his seal, 
To give the world assurance of a man.' 

" The morning passed pleasantly away ; evening came, 
with Bishop, true to his orders and firm at his post, holding 
the favourite charger with the one hand, while the other was 
waiting to offer the ready stirrup. The sun sunk in the hori- 
zon, and yet the colonel appeared not. And then the old sol- 
dier marvelled at his chiefs delay. ''Twas strange, 'twas 
passing strange' — surely he was not wont to be a single mo- 
ment behind his appointments, for he was the most punctual 
of all punctual men. Meantime the host enjoyed the scene 
of the veteran on duty at the gate, while the colonel was so 
agreeably employed in the parlour ; and, proclaiming that no 
guest ever left his house after sunset, his military visiter was, 
without much difficulty, persuaded to order Bishop to put up 
the horses for the night. The sun rode high in the heavens 
the ensuing day, when the enamoured soldier pressed with 
his spur his charger's side, and speeded on his way to the 
seat of government, where, having despatched his public bu- 
siness, he retraced his steps, and at the White House, the en- 
gagement took place, with preparations for the marriage. 

" And much hath the biographer heard of that marriage, 
from gray-haired domestics, who waited at the board where 
love made the feast and Washington was the guest. And 
rare and high was the revelry, at that palmy period of Vir- 
ginia's festal age ; for many were gathered to that marriage, 
of the good, the great, the gifted, and the gay, while Virgi- 
nia, with joyous acclamation, hailed in her youthful hero a 
prosperous and happy bridegroom. 

" 'And so you remember when Colonel Washington came a 
courting your mistress V said the biographer to old Cully, in 
his hundredth year. 'Aye, master, that I do,' replied this an- 
cient family servant, who had lived to see five generations ; 
' great times, sir, great times ! Shall never see the like again !' 
'And Washington looked something like a man, a proper man ; 



478 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 

hey, Cully?' 'Never seed the like, sir; never the likes of 
him, though I have seen many in my day ; so tall, so straight ! 
and then he sat a horse and rode with such an air! Ah, sir; 
he was like no one else ! Many of the grandest gentlemen, 
in their gold lace, were at the wedding, but none looked like 
the man himself!' Strong, indeed, must have been the im- 
pression which the person and manner of Washington made 
upon the rude, ' untutor'd mind' of this poor negro, since the 
lapse of three-quarters of a century had not sufficed to efface 
them. 

" The precise date of the marriage the biographer has been 
unable to discover, having in vain searched among the re- 
cords of the vestry of St. Peter's church, New Kent, of which 
the Rev. Mr. Mosom, a Cambridge scholar, was the rector, 
and performed the ceremony, it is believed, about 1759. A 
short time after their marriage. Colonel and Mrs. Washington 
removed to Mount Vernon, on the Potomac, and permanently 
settled there. 

"The mansion of Mount Vernon, more than seventy years 
ago, was a very small building compared with its present ex- 
tent, numerous out-buildings having since been attached to it. 
The mansion-house consisted of four rooms on a floor, forming 
the centre of the present building, and remained pretty much 
in that state up to 1774, when Colonel Washington repaired 
to the first Congress in Philadelphia, and from thence to the 
command-in-chief of the armies of his country, assembled 
before Cambridge, July, 1775. The commander-in-chief re- 
turned no more to reside at Mount Vernon till after the peace 
of 1783. Mrs. or Lady Washington, as we shall now call 
her, such being the appellation she always bore in the army, 
accompanied the general to the line before Boston, and wit- 
nessed its siege and evacuation. She then returned to Vir- 
ginia, the subsequent campaigns being of too momentous a 
character to allow of her accompanying the army. 

"At the close of each campaign, an aid-de-camp repaired 
to Mount Vernon, to escort the lady to the head-quarters. 
The arrival of Lady Washington at camp was an event much 
anticipated, and was always the signal for the ladies of the 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 479 



general officers to repair to the bosoms of their lords. The 
arrival of the aid-de-camp, escorting the plain chariot, w'^Ui 
the neat postilions in their scarlet and white liveries, was 
deemed an epoch in the army, and served to diffuse a cheer- 
ing influence amid the gloom which hung over our destinies 
at Valley Forge, Morristown, and West Point. Lady Wash- 
ington always remained at the head-quarters till the opening 
of the campaign, and often remarked, in after-life, that it had 
been her fortune to hear the first cannon at the opening and 
the last at the closing, of all the campaigns of the revolu- 
tionary war. During the whole of that mighty period when 
we struggled for independence, Lady Washington preserved 
her equanimity, together with a degree of cheerfulness that 
inspired all around her with the brightest hopes for our ulti- 
mate success. To her alone a heavy cloud of sorrow hung 
over the conclusion of the glorious campaign of 1781. Her 
only child, while attending to his duties as aid-de-camp to 
the general-in-chief, during the siege of Yorktown, was seized 
with an attack of the camp-fever, then raging to a frightful 
extent within the enemy's entrenchments. Ardently attached 
to the cause of his country, having witnessed many of the 
most important events of the revolutionary contest, from the 
siege of Boston, in 1775, to the virtual termination of the 
war, in 1781, the sufferer beheld the surrender of the British 
army of the memorable 1 9th of October, and was thence re- 
moved to Eltham, in New Kent, where he was attended by 
Dr. Craik, chief of the medical stafE Washington learning 
the extreme danger of his step-son, to whom he was greatly 
attached, privately left the camp before Yorktown, while yet 
it rung with the shouts of victory, and, attended by a single 
officer, rode with all speed to Eltham. It was just day-dawn 
when the commander-in-chief sprung from his panting charger, 
and summoning Dr. Craik to his presence, inquired if there 
was any hope. Craik shook his head, when the chief, being 
shown into a private room, threw himself on a bed, absorbed 
in grief. The poor sufferer, being in his last agonies, soon 
after expired. The general remained for some time closeted 
with his lady, then remounted and returned to the camp. 



480 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 



" It was after the peace of 1783, that General Washington 
set in earnest about the improvements in building and laying 
off the gardens and grounds that now^ adorn Mount Vernon. 
He continued in these gratifying employments, occasionally 
diversified with the pleasures of the chase, till 1787, when he 
was called to preside in the convention that framed the pre- 
sent Constitution, and in 1789 left his beloved retirement to 
assume the chief magistracy of the Union. During the resi- 
dence of General and Mrs. Washington at Mount Vernon, 
after the peace of 1783, the ancient mansion, always the seat 
of hospitality, was crowded with guests. The officers of the 
French and American armies, with many strangers of dis- 
tinction, hastened to pay their respects to the victorious gene- 
ral, now merged into the illustrious farmer of Mount Vernon. 
During these stirring times, Mrs. Washington performed the 
duties of a Virginian housewife, and presided at her well- 
spread board, with that ease and elegance of manner which 
always distinguished her. At length the period arrived when 
General and Mrs. Washington were to leave the delights of 
retirement and enter upon new and elevated scenes of life. 
The unanimous voice of his country hailed the hero who had 
so lately led her armies to victory, as the chief magistrate of 
the young empire about to dawn upon the world. 

" The president and his lady bid adieu, with extreme regret, 
to the tranquil and happy shades where a few years of repose 
had, in great measure, effaced the effects of the toils and 
anxieties of war ; where a little Eden had bloomed and flou- 
rished under their fostering hands, and where a numerous 
circle of friends and relatives would sensibly feel the priva- 
tion of their departure. They departed, and hastened to 
where duty called the man of his country. 

" The journey to New York, in 1789, was a continued 
triumph. The august spectacle at the bridge of Trenton 
brought tears to the eyes of the chief, and forms one of the 
most brilliant recollections of the age of Washington. 

"Arrived at the seat of the federal government, the presi- 
dent and Mrs. Washington formed their establishment upon 
a scale that, while it partook of all the attributes of our re- 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 481 

publican institutions, possessed, at the same time, that degree 
of dignity and regard for appearances, so necessary to give 
to our infant republic respect in the eyes of the world. The 
house was handsomely furnished ; the equipages neat, with 
horses of the first order ; the servants wore the family liveries ; 
and, with the exception of a steward and housekeeper, the 
whole establishment differed but little from that of a private 
gentleman. On Tuesdays, from three to four o'clock, the 
president received the foreign ambassadors and strangers who 
wished to be introduced to him. On these occasions, and 
when opening the sessions of Congress, the president wore a 
dress-sword. His personal appearance was always remark- 
able for its being old-fashioned, and exceedingly plain and 
neat. On Thursdays were the Congressional dinners, and on 
Friday nights Mrs. Washington's drawing-room. The com- 
pany usually assembled about seven, and rarely stayed exceed- 
ing ten o'clock. The ladies were seated, and the president 
passed around the circle, paying his compliments to each. 
At the drawing-rooms, Mrs. Morris always sat at the right of 
the lady-president ; and at all the dinners, public or private, 
at which Robert Morris was a guest, that venerable was 
placed at the right of Mrs. Washington. When ladies called 
at the president's mansion, the habit was, for the secretaries 
and gentlemen of the president's household to hand them to 
and from their carriages ; but when the honoured relicts of 
Greene and Montgomery came to the presidoliad, the president 
himself performed these complimentary duties. 

" On the great national festivals of the 4th of July, and 
22d of February, the sages of the revolutionary congress 
and the officers of the revolutionary army renewed their 
acquaintance with Mrs. Washington ; many and kindly greet- 
ings took place, with many a recollection of the days of trial. 
The Cincinnati, after paying their respects to their chief, were 
seen to file off towards the parlour, where I.ady Washington 
was in waiting to receive them ; and where Wayne, and 
Mifflin, and Dickinson, and Steward, and Maylan,and Hartley, 
and a host of veterans, were cordially welcomed as old 
friends; and where many an interesting reminiscence was 

61 ^ 



482 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 



called up, of the head-quarters, and the * times of the revo- 
lution.' 

" On Sundays, unless the weather was uncommonly severe, 
the president and Mrs, Washington attended divine service at 
Christ-church ; and in the evening, the president read to Mrs. 
Washington, in her chamber, a sermon, or some portion from 
the sacred writings. No visitors, with the exception of Mr. 
Speaker Trumbull, were admitted to the presidoliad on 
Sundays. 

" There was a description of visiters, however, to be found 
about the first president's mansion on all days. The old 
soldiers repaired, as they said, to head-quarters, just to in- 
quire after the health of his excellency and Lady Washington. 
They knew his excellency was, of course, much engaged ; but 
they would like to see the good lady. One had been a soldier 
of the life-guard; another had been on duty when the British 
threatened to surprise the head-quarters ; a third had witnessed 
that terrible fellow. Corn wal lis, surrender his sword : each 
one had some touching appeal, with which to introduce him- 
self to the peaceful head-quarters of the presidoliad. All 
were * kindly bid to stay,' were conducted to the steward's 
apartments, and refreshments set before them ; and receiving 
some little token from the lady, with her best wishes for the 
health and happiness of an old soldier, they went their ways, 
while blessings upon their revered commander and the good 
Lady Washington, were uttered by many a war-worn veteran 
of the revolution. 

" In the spring of 179T, General and Mrs. Washington, 
bidding adieu to public life, took their leave of the seat of 
government, and journeyed to the south, prepared, in good 
earnest, to spend the remnant of their days in their beloved 
retirement of Mount Vernon. Tiie general reassumed, with 
delight, his agricultural employments, while the lady bustled 
again amid her domestic concerns, showing that neither time 
nor her late elevated station had anywise impaired her quali- 
fications for a Virginian housewife, and she was now verging 
upon threescore and ten. 

" But for Washington to be retired at Mount Vernon, or 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 483 

anywhere else, was out of the question. Crowds which had 
hailed the victorious general as the deliverer of his country, 
and called him with acclamation to the chief magistracy of 
the infant empire, now pressed to his retirement, to offer their 
love and admiration to the illustrious farmer of Mount 
Vernon. 

" Mrs. Washington was an uncommonly early riser, leaving 
her pillow at day-dawn, at all seasons of the year, and be- 
coming at once actively engaged in her household duties. 
After breakfast she retired for an hour to her chamber, which 
hour was spent in prayer, and reading the Holy Scriptures, a 
practice that she never omitted during half a century of her 
varied life. 

" Two years had passed happily at Mount Vernon ; for, 
although the general, yielding to the claims of his country, 
had again accepted the command-in-chief of her armies, yet 
he had stipulated with government that he should not leave 
his retirement, unless upon the actual invasion of an enemy. 
It was while engaged in projecting new and ornamental im- 
provements in his grounds, that the fiat of the Almighty went 
forth, calling the being, the measure of whose earthly fame 
was filled to overflowing, to his great reward in higher and 
better worlds. The illness was short and severe. Mrs. 
Washington left not the chamber of the sufferer, but was seen 
kneeling at the bedside, her head resting upon her Bible, 
which had been her solace in the many and heavy afflictions 
she had undergone- Dr. Craik, the early friend and com- 
panion in arms of the chief, replaced the hand, which was 
almost pulseless, upon the pillow, while he turned away to 
conceal the tears that fast chased each other down his 
furrowed cheeks. The last effort of the expiring Washington 
was worthy of the Roman fame of his life and character. 
He raised himself up, and casting a look of benignity on all 
around him, as if to thank them for their kindly attentions, 
he composed his limbs, closed his eyes, and, folding his arms 
upon his bosom, the father of his country expired, gently as 
though an infant died ! 

" The aflflicted relict could with difficulty be removed from 



484 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 



the chamber of death, to which she returned no more, but 
occupied other apartments for the residue of her days. 

" By an arrangement with government, Mrs. Washington 
yielded the remains of the chief to the prayer of the nation, 
as expressed through its representatives in Congress, condi- 
tioning that, at her decease, her own remains should accom- 
pany those of her husband to the capital. 

" When the burst of grief which followed the death of the 
Pater Patriae had a little subsided, visits of condolence to the 
bereaved lady were made by the first personages of the land. 
The President of the United States, with many other dis- 
tinguished individuls, repaired to Mount Vernon, while letters, 
addresses, funeral orations, and all the tokens of sorrow and 
respect, loaded the mails from every quarter of the country, 
offering the sublime tribute of a nation's mourning for a 
nation's benefactor. 

"Although the great sun of attraction had sunk in the west, 
still the radiance shed by his illustrious life and actions drew 
crowds of pilgrims to his tomb. The establishment of Mount 
Vernon was kept up to its former standard, and the lady pre- 
sided with her wonted ease and dignity of manner at her 
hospitable board ; she relaxed not in her attentions to her 
domestic concerns, performing the arduous duties of the mistress 
of so extensive an establishment, although in the sixty-ninth 
year of her age, and evidently suffering in her spirits, from 
the heavy bereavement she had so lately sustained. 

" In little more than two years from the demise of the 
chief, Mrs. Washington became alarmingly ill from an attack 
of bilious fever. From her advanced age, the sorrow that 
preyed upon her spirits, and the severity of the attack, the 
family physician gave but little hope of a favourable issue. 
The lady herself was perfectly aware that her hour was nigh ; 
she assembled her grandchildren at her bedside, discoursed 
to them on their respective duties through life, spoke of the 
happy influences of religion on the affairs of this world, of 
the consolations they had afforded her in many and trying 
afflictions, and of the hopes they held out of a blessed im- 
mortality; and then, surrounded by her weeping relatives. 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 485 

friends, and domestics, the venerable relict of Washington 
resigned her life into the hands of her Creator, in the seventy- 
first year of her age. 

"Agreeably to her directions, her remains were placed in a 
leaden coffin, and entombed by the side of those of the chief, 
to await the pleasure of the government. 

" In person, Mrs. Washington was well formed, and some- 
what below the middle size. To judge from her portrait at 
Arlington House, done by Woolaston, when she was in the 
bloom of life, she must at that period have been eminently 
handsome. In her dress, though plain, she was so scrupu- 
lously neat, that ladies have often wondered how Mrs. Wash- 
ington could wear a gown for a week, go through her kitchen 
and laundries, and all the varieties of places in the routine of 
domestic management, and yet the gown retain its snow-like 
whiteness, unsullied by even a single speck. In her conduct 
to her servants, her discipline was prompt, yet humane, and 
her household was remarkable for the excellence of its do- 
mestics. 

" Our filial task is done. Few females have ever figured 
in the great drama of life, amid scenes so varied and impos- 
ing, with so few faults and so many virtues as the subject of 
this brief memoir. Identified with the father of his country 
in the great events which led to the establishment of a na- 
tion's independence, Mrs. Washington necessarily partook 
much of his thoughts, his councils, and his views. Often at 
his side in that awful period that ' tried men's souls/ her 
cheerfulness soothed his anxieties, her firmness inspired con- 
fidence, while her devotional piety toward the Supreme Being 
enabled her to discern a ray of hope, amid the darkness of a 
horizon clouded by despair. 

"After a long life abounding in vicissitudes, having a full 
measure of sorrows, but with many and high enjoyments, the 
venerable Martha Washington descended to the grave, cheered 
by the prospect of a blessed immortality, and mourned by 
the millions of a mighty empire." 

" Silence was on her throne — the moon and stars, 
Hush'd by her lifted sceptre, softly walk'd 
__ 



486 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 

Their azure pathway ; and the quiet earth 
Had not a rustling leaf, for the luU'd winds 
Slept in the hill-side shadows, and the trees 
Leaned o'er their images, all dark and still, 
In deep unruffled waters. 

There were tents, 
White in the mellow moonlight, where a host 
Of weary warriors lay, in such repose. 
As though the camp had been a field of tombs, 
And all the host were mouldering. Here and there 
The armed sentinel paced to and fro, 
Or wondering at the beauty of the scene, 
Or musing on the future, gazing sad 
Upon his shadow ; feeling that his life 
Was transient likewise, and would disappear 
In the night of death, as disappear'd the shade 
When the moon darken'd, and the passing mist 
Made all its outlines blend in fellow gloom. 
The instruments of battle, fraught no more 
With human vengeance, lay as harmlessly 
As when they slumber'd in their native hills. 
Untaught to thunder and unstain'd with blood. 
The banner, that had waved o'er fields of slain. 
Was now its bearer's pillow ; and he dream'd, 
With his head resting on rent folds, of love. 
And fireside peace, and female tenderness. 
That sleeping host concentred in itself 
The hopes of a wide world. Fell Tyranny — 
The fiend, grown gray in shortening human life, 
Who joys the most when joys mankind the least, 
And scourges most who lowliest submit — 
Had spread his sails, and push'd his giant prow 
From a far isle, and o'er the trembling sea 
Pursued his scornful course, and, landing proud 
Upon this mighty continent, had call'd 
The nation to approach, and kiss his rod. 
His helm was like a mountain, and his plume 
Gloom'd like a cloud ; his lifted sword far shone — 
A threatening comet ; loud his thunder- voice 
Demanded death or crouching ; and his stamp 
Shook the firm hills, and made the whole earth reel. 
Many had gone — led by the hand of Fear — 
And knelt unto the monster, kiss'd his rod, 
And pointed at their brethren's breasts their swords. 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 487 

But these had seized their weapons, and stood up, 
E'en in his very shadow, and his threats 
Answer'd like men, and rang their shields for war. 
But hitherto these valiant ones had fail'd 
In the fierce conflict ; and, in rest, were now 
Waiting the morrow, and a deadlier shock. 

But one was watchful in that silent hour, 

Whose heart had gather'd to itself the cares 

Of all his struggling brethren, and w^as sad 

That still Success was herald to the fiend. 

Out from his tent he came, and when he heard 

No sound, he joy'd to think that woe had not 

So heavily press'd upon the sleepers' hearts 

As on his own ; and then he felt a weight 

Still heavier fall upon himself, as thought 

Pictured the thousands trusting in his arm ; 

The slumberers round — tiie nation's aged ones, 

Whose dim eyes ceaseless wept o'er scenes of blood — 

The mourning widows, clasping to their breasts 

Their famish'd infants — and the virgins, pale, 

Bereft of love, and in the arms of lust 

Dying a thousand deaths ! 

On the bare earth 
He knelt, in suppliance meek; and humbly laid 
Beside him, his plumed helmet, and his sword, 
Unsheath'd and glittering, and ask'd of God 
To look on him, all helpless, and to bless 
His nerveless arm with might and victory — 
To smile on his worn warriors, and infuse 
Spirit and fire in every languid pulse — 
To frown upon the tyrant, and destroy — 
And bid the mountains sing, from pole to pole, 
The song of liberty, and the free waves 
Clap their glad hands, and answer from afar. 

God heard and answer'd — and the spirit of Strength 

Walk'd in the camp, from tent to tent, and breathed 

An iron vigour through the sleepers' frames, 

And in their hearts a courage ne'er to quail. 

And Weakness sought the valley, where the foe, 

Pillow'd upon a hill, stretch'd his huge length 

In cumbrous slumber ; and his giant limbs 

Grew soft as babe's ; while Mockery soothed his soul 

With dreams of speedy triumph, and rich spoil. 



488 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1781. 

And Truth came down, and charm'd the suppliant 

"With promise of deliverance soon to be. 

And o'er the mountain-top came young Success : 

The sentry had not hail'd her as she pass'd, 

But shut his eyes in fright, and thought he saw 

A ghost, nor dream'd that she could leave the fiend. 

"Washington rose in peace, replaced his helm 

Upon his brow, and sheath'd his glittering sword, 

And felt a power was on him none could stay I 

Oh ! I have read of chieftains who call'd out 

Their banner'd multitudes, and circled round 

The noon-day altar, and anon look'd up ; 

"While the white-bearded priest plunged deep the knife 

In fellow flesh, and bathed himself in gore, 

To appease the' gods and gain celestial aid ! 

And I have read of armies, front to front. 

Pausing in awful silence, with the match 

Blazing o'er loaded cannon, and bright swords 

Flashing in vengeful hands ; while solemnly 

Uncover'd chaplains bow'd between the foes, 

And pour'd their mingling prayers — ere Death began 

His sacrifice unto the Prince of Hell ! 

But this was gilded seeming — but a mere show 

To warm the vassal soldiers to high thoughts, 

And make them glow for carnage — not for right. 

'T was mumbling prayer to God with lips profane, 

"While their hearts wish'd the answer of a shout 

From the excited ranks — the cry for blood. 

They look'd upon their warriors, as their dogs 

Are look'd upon by sportsmen ; and they hoped 

Such solemn mockeries might their men inspire, 

As gentle pattings fire unloosed hound : 
And all their plan was but to curb their rage 

Till it grew fierce, then burst the bands and urge 

The hosts to slaughter ! 

Pure Sincerity 
Delights to kneel in solitude, and feels 
God's presence most where none but God beholds. 
And when I think of our high-hearted chief 
Watching while others slept — swelling his soul 
To sympathize with thousands ; yea, to care 
For other's cares, while by themselves forgot ; 
Joying to find Repose had quieted 
The tents of all around, yet keeping far 



1781.] REVOLUTION. 489 

Her presence from his own; and when I think 

Of his divestment of self-strena^th, and deep 

And fervent longing for Almighty aid — 

I feel as if Sincerity did smile 

Upon that hour, and name it in her joy 

The Eden of Duration's purest page 

In the truth-written history of time ! 

Surely that quiet scene was fraught with life, 

And circling angels wonder'd while they heard 

The hero's soul expressing secretly 

And sacredly, before the all-seeing God, 

No care, no wish, but for his country's good ! 

And wonder'd — nay, they wonder'd not that God 

Should sanctify the life-destroying sword : 

For 't was thy sword, O sainted Washington ! 



62 



490 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 



PART IV. 
THE LATE WAR 



CHAPTER I. 

Declaration of War against Great Britain — Battle of Tippecanoe. 

" If the deeds of your fathers are yet blazing in your souls, assert and 
maintain the dignity and honour of your country." 

" Here 's an arm for thee, my country ; 

'T will far and sternly dare. 
When the cloudy battle gathers dark. 

And the war-shouts rend the. air. 

Land of our patriot fathers ! 

Land of the ' mighty free !' 
Here 's a loud hurrah for Washington, 

And his home of liberty. 

Lift the noble flag above us ! 

Let the stormy war-drums roll ; 
Those stars are high as the warrior's hopes — 

That music speaks his soul. 

Arm for the stirring conflict ! 

Let the serried spears flash high : 
Arm ! for the God of battle leads 

Our hosts to victory!" 

" What hallows ground where heroes sleep 1 
'T is not the sculptured piles you heap! 
In dews that heavens far distant weep, 

Their turf may bloom." — Campbell. 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 491 

The world is a kaleidoscope, and we now produce other 
pictures, which we hope may interest the reader. In our in- 
troduction to this part we must be brief, to find room to set 
forth the glory of our distinguished navy, together with a few 
great battles on the land. 

On the 4th of June, 1812, a bill declaring war against 
Great Britain passed the House of Representatives by a 
majority of seventy-nine to forty-nine. After a discussion of 
this bill in the Senate till the 17th, it passed that body also, 
by a majority of nineteen to thirteen, and the succeeding day, 
18th, received the signature of the President, James Madison. 

The principal grounds of war, as set forth in a message of 
the president to Congress, June 1st, and further explained 
by the Committee on Foreign Relations, in their report on 
the subject of the message, were, summarily : — The impress- 
ment of American seamen by the British; — the blockade of her 
enemies' ports, supported by no adequate force, in consequence 
of which, the American commerce had been plundered in 
every sea, and the great staples of the country cut off from 
their legitimate markets ; — and the British orders in council. 

On these grounds the president urged the declaration of 
war. In unison with the recommendation of the president, 
the Committee on Foreign Relations concluded their report 
as follows : 

" Your committee, believing that the freeborn sons of 
America are worthy to enjoy the liberty which their fathers 
purchased at the price of much blood and treasure, and 
seeing, by the measures adopted by Great Britain, a course 
commenced and persisted in, which might lead to a loss of 
national character and independence, feel no hesitation in 
advising resistance by force, in which the Americans of the 
present day will prove to the enemy and the world, that we 
have not only inherited that liberty which our fathers gave 
us, but also the will and power to maintain it. Relying on 
the patriotism of the nation, and confidently trusting that the 
Lord of Hosts will go with us to battle in a righteous cause, 
and crown our efforts with success, your committee recom- 
mend an immediate appeal to arms." 



492 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 



Against this declaration of war, the minority in the House 
of Representatives, among which were found the principal 
part of the delegation from New England, in an address to 
their constituents, solemnly protested, on the ground that the 
wrongs of which the United States complained, although in 
some respects grievous, were not of a nature, in the present 
state of the world, to justify war, or such as war would be 
likely to remedy. On the subject of impressment, they urged 
that the question between the two countries had once been 
honourably and satisfactorily settled, in the treaty negotiated 
with the British court by Messrs. Monroe and Pinckney ; and 
although that treaty had not been ratified by Mr. Jefferson, 
the arrangements might probably again be made. In relation 
to the second cause of war, the minority replied, that this 
was not designed to injure the commerce of the United States, 
but was retaliatory upon France, which had taken the lead 
in aggressions upon neutral rights. In addition, it was said, 
that as the repeal of the French decrees had been officially 
announced, it was to be expected that a revocation of the 
orders in council would soon follow. 

In the conclusion of the protest, the minority spoke as 
follows : 

" The undersigned cannot refrain from asking, What are 
the United States to gain by this war? Will the gratification 
of some privateersmen compensate the nation for that sweep 
of our legitimate commerce by the extended marine of our 
enemy, which this desperate act invites? Will Canada com- 
pensate the Middle States for New York; or the Western 
States for New Orleans ? Let us not be deceived. A war 
of invasion may invite a retort of invasion. When we visit 
the peaceable, and to us innocent colonies of Great Britain 
with the horrors of war, can we be assured that our own 
coast will not be visited with like horrors ? 

"At a crisis of the world such as the present, and under 
impressions such as these, the undersigned could not consider 
the war into which the United States have in secret been 
precipitated, as necessary, or required by any moral duty, or 
any political expediency." 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 493 



As a difference of views respecting the war, which had 
now been declared, prevailed in Congress, so the country 
generally was divided into two opposite parties respecting it ; 
the friends of the administration universally commending, 
and its opposers as extensively censuring and condemning the 
measure. By the former, the war was strenuously urged to 
be unavoidable and just ; by the latter, with equal decision, 
it was pronounced to be impolitic, unnecessary, and unjust. 

But before war was declared, though its approach appeared 
manifest, an engagement took place, May, 1811, between the 
American frigate President, commanded by Captain Rogers, 
and a British sloop of war, the Little Belt, commanded by 
Captain Bingham. The attack was commenced by the latter 
vessel, without provocation, and, in the rencontre, she suffered 
greatly in her men and rigging. 

A court of inquiry was ordered on the conduct of Captain 
Rogers, which decided that it had been satisfactorily proved 
to the court, that Captain Rogers hailed the Little Belt first 
— that his hail was not satisfactorily answered — that the 
Little Belt fired the first gun — and that it was without pre- 
vious provocation, or justifiable cause, &c. &-c. 

During the same year, it became obvious that the cloud of 
war, which had so long darkened our western frontier, must 
shortly burst, and pour out its contents of fury and desola- 
tion upon the unprotected habitations of the settlers. 

The insidious enmity of the Indians, which had been kept 
alive and nourished so long by the sinister policy of England, 
began to assume a bolder aspect. Their murmurs were 
changed into threats ; their complaints to vows of vengeful 
retribution. Great Britain also had strengthened the posts 
which she had retained in her possession, contrary to all good 
faith, and had placed Canada in a state of defence. Her out- 
rages upon our commerce had become such as a brave nation 
could no longer palliate or excuse. The patience of the Ame- 
rican people at length became exhausted, and throughout her 
wide domain, the democracy of the land demanded a vindi- 
cation of their rights, and a redress of their wrongs. The 

prospect of war was viewed with enthusiasm in the West, 

_ 



494 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 



Governor Harrison, always foremost in the hour of his 
country's danger, applied to President Madison for authority 
to prepare the frontier for the approaching contest. 

An armed force w^as instantly supplied him, from Ohio, 
Kentucky, and Indiana ; but he was ordered " to abstain from 
hostilities of any kind whatever, and to any degree, not in- 
dispensably required." 

A more disadvantageous and trying position than that 
which Harrison occupied, cannot well be conceived. Before 
him was arrayed his enemy, in open preparation for battle ; 
behind him lay a defenceless population, from which all the 
able-bodied men' had been drafted, or had volunteered to form 
the army : on the right and left stretched the forest, which 
it was impossible to guard, and through which the foe could, 
at any moment, fall back upon the unprotected settlers in the 
rear, and carry the torch and knife to the home and throats 
of every family. General Harrison had not the power to 
attack. Until blood had stained the tomahawk, or the victim 
had writhed beneath the torture, he could not even unsheath 
his sword. Every advantage was conferred upon the enemy. 
In the defile of the mountain, on the plain, by night or by 
day, in detachments, or en masse, he might come on, when, 
where, and as he chose. 

The genius of Harrison — " the man who never lost a 
battlf," who never yielded to a foreign foe — was equal to 
this crisis ; and, by a master-stroke of policy, he conquered 
every disadvantage, and moved down upon the Prophet's 
town, where all the hostile Indians were assembled. We will 
not accompany him on his dreary march through the wilder- 
ness, nor recount the mishaps and adventures which befel 
him. Suffice it to say, that, on the .5th of November, he dis- 
covered the Prophet's town, about five miles in advance of 
him. 

Harrison now used every precaution to guard against an 
attack. Interpreters were sent to the enemy, who refused to 
hear them. At length Captain Dubois was sent forward with 
a flag ; but the Indians, in defiance of his sacred character, 
made an unsuccessful effort to cut him off from the army. 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 495 

Harrison, on learning this, resolved to treat them as enemies, 
considering this act of aggression a sufficient justification 
under his orders. He was preparing for an attack on them, 
when he was met by three chiefs, who came to avow, on the 
Indians' behalf, a disposition for peace. A suspension of hos- 
tilities till the next day was agreed upon, and Harrison moved 
his army above the town, and, with his usual judgment, se- 
lected an encampment possessing every advantage of posi- 
tion, together with a full supply of wood and water for the 
men. 

It was during this night that the treacherous savages held 
a council, and, in open violation of their compact, resolved to 
attack the camp of Harrison before the break of day. 

Before proceeding to a description of the celebrated battle 
which followed this resolution, we will pause to relate an in- 
cident which occurred this night, and which fully illustrates 
the humanity and benevolence of Harrison's heart. Let 
those, if any there be, who affect to dread his military cha- 
racter, read this and reflect. 

Ben, a negro who belonged to the camp, deserted and went 
over to the Indians, and entered into a conspiracy to assassi- 
nate Governor Harrison, at the time the savages commenced 
their attack. Being apprehended whilst lurking about the 
Governor's marque, waiting an opportunity to accomplish this 
foul deed, he was tried by a court-martial and sentenced to 
be shot. The execution of this sentence was delayed for a 
short time, in consequence of the troops being engaged in for- 
tifying the camp. In the mean time, the negro was put into 
Indian stocks — that is, a log split open, notches cut into it 
to fit the culprit's legs, the upper piece then laid on, and 
the whole firmly staked into the ground. The Governor in- 
terposed, and pardoned the culprit. The reason assigned by 
him for his clemency, was as follows : — " The fact was, that 
I began to pity him, and could not screw myself up to the 
point of giving the fatal order. If he had been out of my 
sight, he would have been executed. The poor wretch lay 
confined before my fire, his face receiving the rain that occa- 
sionally fell, and his eyes constantly turned upon me, as if 



496 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 

imploring mercy. I could not withstand the appeal, and I 
determined to give him another chance for his life." This 
act of magnanimous lenity displays, in bright colours, the 
goodness of Harrison's heart, and proves that no elevation of 
rank could cause him to forget the feelings of his fellow-men : 
resentment, if it dwelt in his bosom, yielded to the pleading 
of mercy. 

After the treaty for a suspension of hostilities with the 
savages, the men busied themselves in fortifying the camp. 
This done, they retired to rest. Throughout the multitude 
who had lately been so active and busy, not a sound was 
heard, save that of the sentinel as he paced his lonely round. 
The moon was overcast with clouds, and an occasional drop- 
ping of rain denoted an approaching convulsion of the ele- 
ments. All was as silent as the grave, when a single shot 
was heard, and immediately the dreadful war-whoop arose 
in the quarter whence it proceeded. 

Harrison, who had already risen, mounted the first horse 
he could procure, and rode directly to the point of attack. 
The guard had already been driven in by the savages, but 
Harrison, with undaunted heroism, rallied his men, received 
the foe at the point of the bayonet, and drove them back. 

In a short time, the troops were marshalled in order of 
battle, and a most deadly conflict raged until the dawn of 
day. Major Davis fell mortally wounded, as did also Colonel 
Isaac White. The savages fought with all the fury of reli- 
gious fanaticism, but every eflfort against our troops was 
promptly met and gallantly repulsed. At length the Gover- 
nor succeeded in breaking the enemy's left wing, and imme- 
diately after, with Cook and Larrabe's companies, he charged 
their right, and put their main body to flight, and thus termi- 
nated the battle. 

The battle at Tippecanoe was one of the most important 
conflicts which ever occurred between the Indians and the 
whites. The forces on either side were nearly equal. The 
Indians, however, chose the time, place and mode of attack ; 
and yet, notwithstanding, by the gallantry and courage of 
Governor Harrison, they were defeated. 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 497 

The high sense entertained by the government of the con- 
duct of the officers and soldiers in this conflict is expressed 
in a message from the President to Congress, dated December 
18, 1811. — *' While it is deeply to be lamented," says Mr. 
Madison, " that so many valuable lives have been lost in the 
action, which took place on the 9th ult.. Congress will see 
with satisfaction the dauntless spirit and fortitude victoriously 
displayed by every description of troops engaged, as well as 
the collected firmness which distinguished their commander, 
on an occasion requiring the utmost exertion of valour and 
discipline." 

Resolutions were also passed by the Legislatures of Indiana 
and Kentucky, of a similar purport. The following is the 
resolution of the latter body : 

" Resolved, that in the late campaign against the Indians 
on the Wabash, Governor William Henry Harrison has, in 
the opinion of this Legislature, behaved like a hero, a patriot, 
and a general; and that for his cool, deliberate, skilful, and 
gallant conduct in the late battle of Tippecanoe, he deserves 
the warmest thanks of the nation." 

The thanks thus conferred were well merited, as nothing 
could exceed the daring with which he exposed his person, at 
those points where the battle raged most hotly. 

In some instances this exposure was so great as to demand 
the interference of his officers — a circumstance which has 
happened to no other officer of whom we have ever read, 
except Washington at Long Island. The following instance 
is given by McAtfee. In speaking of his services during the 
combat, he says : 

" The reinforcements drawn occasionally from the points 
most secure, were conducted by himself and formed on the 
spot where their services were most wanted. The officers 
and men, who believed that their ultimate success depended 
on his safety, warmly remonstrated against his so constantly 
exposing himself. Upon one occasion, as he was approaching 
an angle of the line, against which the Indians were advancing 
with horrible yells. Lieutenant Emerson, of the Dragoons, 
seized the bridle of his horse, and earnestly entreated that he 

63 2r^ 



498 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 



would not go there ; but the governor, putting spurs to his 
horse, pushed on to the point of attack, where the enemy 
were received with firmness, and driven back." 

The effect of the victory of Tippecanoe, was the immediate 
dispersion of the hostile bands of barbarians, who had here- 
tofore hung on the western frontier. The various tribes de- 
nounced Tecumseh, and disclaimed all connection with him, 
and shortly afterwards sent eighty deputies to Governor 
Harrison, to treat for peac6, on the terms of total submission. 
Far different would have been the scene had the Prophet 
triumphed — towns would have been sacked, hamlets burned, 
and the peaceful tenement of the settler offered up a sacrifice 
to savage fury. 



CHAPTER II. 

General Hull surrenders his Army to General Brock without a Battle — His Trial 
— His Sentence — Pardoned by the President — His Name is struck from the Rolls of 
the Army. 

" The better part of valour is — discretion." 

At least General Hull, as well as Falstaff, appears to have 
been of that opinion ; but every general rule has its exceptions 
in such matters, and Congress did not agree with him. 

On the 16th of August, General Hull, Governor of Michigan, 
who had been sent at the head of about 2500 men to Detroit, 
with a view of putting an end to Indian hostilities in that 
country, surrendered his army to General Brock, without a 
battle, and with it the fort at Detroit. 

The sensations produced by this occurrence throughout the 
United States, and particularly in the Western country, can 
scarcely be described. So entirely unprepared was the public 
mind for this extraordinary event, that no one could believe 
it to have taken place, until communicated from an official 
source. 

In his official despatch, Hull took great pains to free his 
conduct from censure. Among the reasons for his surrender, 
and those which determined him to that course, he assigned 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 499 



the want of provision to sustain the siege, the expected rein- 
forcements of the enemy, and the savage ferocity of the 
Indians, should he ultimately be obliged to capitulate. 

The government, however, not being satisfied with his 
excuses, ordered a court-martial, before which he was charged 
with treason, cowardice, and unofficer-like conduct. On the 
first charge the court declined giving an opinion : on the two 
last he was sentenced to death, but was recommended to 
mercy, in consequence of his revolutionary services, and his 
advanced age. The sentence was remitted by the president ; 
but his name was ordered to be struck from the rolls of the 
army. 

A chapter without a battle is rather an anomaly in our 
work ; but for this we are indebted to the defection of General 
Hull. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Constitution captures the Guerriere — Great Damage to the Guerriere — 
She is set on Fire and blown up — Effects of this brilliant Victory on the American 
People. 

" Bis vincit, qui se vincit in victoria." 



I will board her, though she chide as loud 



As thunder, when the clouds in autumn crack." 

The Constitution, commanded by Captain Isaac Hull, put 
to sea from Boston, on the 2d of September. On the 19th, a 
vessel hove in sight, and a chase instantly commenced. It 
was soon discovered to be the Guerriere, one of the best fri- 
gates in the British navy, and which seemed not averse to 
the rencontre, as she backed her maintop-sail, waiting for 
the Constitution to come down. This was a most desirable 
occurrence to our brave tars, as this frigate had for some time 
been in search of an American frigate, having given a formal 
challenge to all our vessels of the same class. She had at 
one of her mast-heads a flag, on which her name was in- 
scribed in large characters, by way of gasconade, and on 



500 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 

another, the words " Not the Little Belt," in allusion to the 
broadsides which the President had given that vessel before 
the war. The Guerriere had looked into several of our ports, 
and affected to be exceedingly anxious to earn the first laurel 
from the new enemy. The Constitution being made ready 
for action, now bore down, her crew giving three cheers. 
At first it was the intention of Captain Hull to bring her to 
close action immediately ; but on coming within gun-shot she 
gave a broadside and filled away, then wore, giving a broad- 
side on the other tack, but without effect. They now con- 
tinued wearing and manoeuvring, on both sides, for three- 
quarters of an hour, the Guerriere attempting to take a raking 
position ; but, failing in this, she bore up, and ran with her 
top-sail and jib on the quarter. The Constitution, perceiving 
this, made sail to come up with her. Captain Hull, with ad- 
mirable coolness, received the enemy's fire without returning 
it. The enemy, mistaking this conduct on the part of the 
American commander, continued to pour out his broadsides 
with a view to cripple his antagonist. From the Constitution 
not a gun had been fired : Already had an officer twice come 
on deck, with information that several of the men had been 
killed at their guns. The gallant crew, though burning with 
impatience, silently awaited the orders of the commander. 
The moment so long looked for, at last arrived. Sailing- 
master Aylwin having seconded the views of the captain 
with admirable skill, in bringing the vessel exactly to the sta- 
tion intended, orders were given, at five minutes before 5 P. 
M., to fir€ broadside after broadside in quick succession. 
The crew instantly discovered the whole plan, and entered 
into it with all the spirit the circumstance was calculated to 
inspire. Never was any firing so dreadful. For fifteen mi- 
nutes the vivid lightning of the Constitution's guns continued 
in one blaze, and their thunder roared with scarce an inter- 
mission. The enemy's mizen-mast had gone by the board, 
and he stood exposed to a raking fire, which swept his decks. 
The Guerriere had now become unmanageable; her hull, rig- 
ging and sails dreadfully torn ; when the Constitution at- 
tempted to lay her on board. At this moment Lieutenant 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 501 



Bush, in attempting to throw his marines on board, was 
killed by a musket-ball, and the enemy shot ahead, but could 
not be brought before the wind. Arakin^fire now continued 
for fifteen minutes longer, when his main-mast and fore-mast 
went, taking with them every spar excepting the bowsprit. 
On seeing this, the firing ceased, and at twenty-five minutes 
past five she surrendered. " In thirty minutes," says Captain 
Hull, "after we got fairly alongside of the enemy, she sur- 
rendered, and had not a spar standing, and her hull, above 
and below water, so shattered, that a few more broadsides 
must have carried her down," The Guerriere was so much 
damaged, as to render it impossible to bring her in ; she was 
therefore set fire to the next day, and blown up. The dam- 
age sustained by the Constitution was comparatively of so 
little consequence, that she actually made ready for action, 
when a vessel appeared in sight the next day. The loss on 
board the Guerriere was fifteen killed and sixty-three wounded; 
on the side of the Constitution, seven killed and seven wounded. 
It is pleasing to observe, that even the British commander, 
on this occasion, bore testimony to the humanity and gene- 
rosity with which he was treated by the victors. The Ame- 
rican frigate was somewhat superior in force, by a few guns ; 
but this difference bore no comparison to the disparity of the 
conflict. The Guerriere was thought to be a match for any 
vessel of her class, and had been amongst the largest in the 
British navy. The Constitution arrived at Boston on the 
28th of August, having captured several merchant vessels. 

Never did any event spread such an universal joy over the 
whole country. The gallant Hull, and his equally gallant 
officers, were received with enthusiastic demonstrations of 
gratitude wherever they appeared. He was presented with 
the freedom of all the cities through which he passed on his 
way to the seat of government, and with many valuable do- 
nations. Congress voted fifty thousand dollars to the crew 
as a recompense for the loss af the prize ; and the Executive 
promoted several of the officers. Sailing-master Aylwin, 
who had been severely wounded, was promoted to the rank 
of lieutenant; and Lieutenant Morris, who had been also 



502 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 



wounded, was promoted to the rank of post-captain. This 
affair was not a little mortifying to Great Britain, who for 
thirty years had in no instance lost a frigate in any thing like 
an equal conflict. She was, however, destined soon to bear 
such mortifications very frequently, as this was the beginning 
of that series of glorious naval victories, which astonished 
the world, and compelled the greatest European powers to 
respect us on an element on which they had been accustomed 
to rule, often without much regard to the rights of our re- 
public, the naval force of which had been treated with con- 
tempt. Such is the justice of tyrants, they respect force only, 
and that because they cannot avoid it. Captain Hull was an 
able officer, a good disciplinarian, and an honour to the 
American service. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Invasion of Canada — Achievements of Colonel Van Rensselaer. 

"And made their routed squadrons feel 
The temper of American steel." 

Upon the declaration of war, the attention of the American 
general was turned towards the invasion of Canada; for 
which 8,000 or 10,000 men, and considerable military stores 
were collected at different points along the Canada line. 
Skilful officers of the navy were also despatched for the pur- 
pose of arming vessels on Lakes Erie, Ontario, and Cham- 
plain, to gain, if possible, the ascendency there, and to aid 
the operations of the American forces. 

The American troops were distributed into three divisions. 
One under General Harrison, called the north-western army ; 
a second under General Stephen Van Rensselaer, at Lewis- 
town, called the army of the centre ; and a third under the 
commander-in-chief, General Dearborn, in the neighbourhood 
of Plattsburg and Greenbush, called the army of the north. 

Early on the morning of the 13th of October, 1812, a de- 
tachment of about 1000 men, from the army of the centre, 
crossed the river Niagara, and attacked the British at Queens- 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 503 

town heights. This detachment, under the command of 
Colonel Solomon Van Rensselaer, succeeded in dislodging the 
enemy; but not being reinforced by the militia from the 
American side, as was expected, they were ultimately re- 
pulsed, and were obliged to surrender. The British general, 
Brock, was killed during the engagement. 

The forces designated to storm the heights, were divided 
into columns : one, of the 300 militia, under Colonel Van 
Rensselaer; the other, of the 300 regulars, under Colonel 
Christie : these were to be followed by Colonel Fenwick's 
artillery, and then the other troops in order. 

Much embarrassment was experienced by the boats from 
the eddies, as well as by the shot of the enemy, in crossing 
the river. Colonel Van Rensselaer led the van, and landed 
first with 100 men. Scarcely had he leaped from the boat, 
when he received four severe wounds. Being, however, able 
to stand, he ordered his officers to move with rapidity, and 
storm the fort. This service was gallantly performed, and 
the enemy were driven down the river in every direction. 

Both parties were now reinforced ; the Americans by 
regulars and militia, the British by the forty-ninth regiment, 
consisting of COO regulars, under General Brock. After a 
desperate engagement, the enemy were repulsed, and the 
victory was thought complete. 

General Van Rensselaer now crossed over, for the purpose 
of fortifying the heights, preparatory to another attack, 
should the repulsed enemy be reinforced. This duty he as- 
signed to Lieutenant Totten, an able engineer. 

But the fortune of the day was not yet decided. At three 
o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy, being reinforced by seve- 
ral hundred Chippewa Indians, rallied, and again advanced, 
but were a third time repulsed. At this moment. General 
Van Rensselaer, perceiving the militia on the opposite side 
embarking but slowly, hastily recrossed the river to accele- 
rate their movements. But what was his chagrin, on reach- 
ing the American side, to hear more than twelve hundred of 
the militia positively refuse to embark. The sight of the en- 
gagement had cooled that ardour which, previously to the 



504 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 



attack, the commander-in-chief could scarcely restrain. 
While their countrymen were nobly struggling for victory, 
they could remain idle spectators of the scene. All that a 
brave, resolute, and benevolent commander could do, General 
Van Rensselaer did — he urged, entreated, commanded, but 
it was all in vain. Eight hundred British soldiers, from 
fort George, now appeared, and pressed on to renew the 
attack. The Americans, for a time, continued to struggle 
against this force, but were finally obliged to surrender them- 
selves prisoners of war. 

The number of American troops killed amounted to about 
sixty, and about one hundred were wounded. Those that 
surrendered themselves prisoners of war, including the 
wounded, were about seven hundred. The loss of the Brit- 
ish is unknown, but it must have been severe* 

Although the issue of this battle was unfortunate, seldom 
has American valour shone more conspicuously, or a victory 
been relinquished with more reluctance. Had but a small 
part of the " idle men" passed over at the critical moment 
when urged by their brave commander, revolutionary history 
can tell of few nobler achievements than this would have 
been. 



CHAPTER V. 

The Wasp captures the Frolic — Terrible HaVoc on board the Frolic — Reception 
of Captain Jones in the United States. 

" Palmam qui meruit ferat." 

Another brilliant victory was achieved by an American 
vessel over an enemy greatly superior in force, and possess- 
ing many other advantages, in October. 

Captain Jones was transferred, by the Secretary of the 
Navy, to the command of the sloop of war Wasp, mounting 
eighteen twenty-four pound carronades, in 1811, and was 
despatched, in the spring of 1812, with communications from 
our government to its ministers at the courts of St. Cloud and 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 505 



St. James. Before he returned, war had been declared by 
the United States against Great Britain. Captain Jones re- 
fitted his ship with all possible despatch, and repaired to sea 
on a cruise, hi which he met with no other luck than the 
capture of an inconsiderable prize. He again put to sea on 
the 13th of October, and on the 18th of the month, after a 
long and heavy gale, he fell in with a number of strongly 
armed merchantmen, under convoy of the British sloop of 
war the Frolic, Captain Whinyates. 

As this engagement has been one of the most decidedly 
honourable to the American flag, from the superior force of 
the enemy ; and as the British writers, in endeavouring to 
account for our successes, and to undervalue our victories, 
have studiously passed this battle in silence, and seemed 
anxious to elbow it into oblivion, this occasion is taken to re- 
publish a full and particular account of it, which we have 
every reason to believe is scrupulously correct : — 

"A heavy swell was in the sea, and the weather was bois- 
terous. The topgallant-yards of the Wasp were taken down, 
her topsails were close-reefed, and she was prepared for ac- 
tion. About 11 o'clock, the Frolic showed Spanish colours, 
and the Wasp immediately displayed the American ensign 
and pennant. At thirty-two minutes past eleven, the Wasp 
came down to windward, on her larboard side, within about 
sixty yards, and hailed. The enemy hauled down the Span- 
ish colours, hoisted the British ensign, and opened a fire of 
cannon and musketry. This the Wasp instantly returned ; 
and, coming nearer to the enemy, the action became close, 
and without intermission. In four or five minutes, the main- 
topmast of the Wasp was shot away, and, falling down with 
the main-topsail-yard across the larboard fore and fore-topsail 
braces, rendered her head yards unmanageable during the 
rest of the action. In two or three minutes more, her gaft 
and mizen-topgallant-sail were shot away. Still she conti- 
nued a close and constant fire. The sea was so rough that 
the muzzles of the Wasp's guns were frequently in the water. 
The Americans, therefore, fired as the ship's side was going 
down, so that their shot went either on the enemy's deck or 

64 2s 



506 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 

below it, while the English fired as the vessel rose, and thus 
her balls chiefly touched the rigging, or were thrown away. 
The Wasp now shot ahead of the Frolic, raked her, and then 
resumed her position on the Frolic's larboard bow. Her fire 
was now obviously attended with such success, and that of 
the Frolic so slackened, that Captain Jones did not wish to 
board her, lest the roughness of the sea might endanger both 
vessels ; but in the course of a few minutes more, every brace 
of the Wasp was shot away, and her rigging so much torn 
to pieces, that he was afraid that his masts, being unsupported, 
would go by the board, and the Frolic be able to escape. He 
thought, therefore, the best chance of securing her was to 
board, and decide the contest at once. With this view he 
wore ship, and running down on the enemy, the vessels struck 
each other, the Wasp's side rubbing along the Frolic's bow, 
so that her jib-boom came in between the main and mizen- 
rigging of the Wasp, directly over the heads of Captain Jones 
and the first Lieutenant, Mr. Biddle, who were at that mo- 
ment standing together near the capstan. The Frolic lay so 
fair for raking, that they decided not to board until they had 
given a closing broadside. Whilst they were loading for this, 
so near were the two vessels, that the rammers of the Wasp 
were pushed against the Frolic's sides, and two of her guns 
went through the bow-ports of the Frolic, and swept the 
whole length of her deck. At this moment John Lang, a sea- 
man of the Wasp, a gallant fellow, who had been once im- 
pressed by a British man-of-war, jumped on a gun with his 
cutlass, and was springing on board the Frolic ; Captain 
Jones, wishing to fire again before boarding, called him down, 
but his impetuosity could not be restrained, and he was 
already on the bowsprit of the Frolic ; when seeing the ar- 
dour and enthusiasm of the Wasp's crew, Lieutenant Biddle 
mounted on the hammock-cloth to board. At this signal the 
crew followed, but Lieutenant Biddle's feet became entangled 
in the rigging of the enemy's bowsprit, and the midshipman. 
Baker, in his ardour to spring on board, laying hold of his 
coat, he fell back on the Wasp's deck. He sprung up, and 
as the next swell of the sea brought the Frolic nearer, he 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 507 



mounted her bowsprit, where Lang and another seaman were 
already. He passed them on the forecastle, and was surprised 
at not seeing a single man alive on the Frolic's deck, except- 
ing the seaman at the wheel, and three officers. The deck 
was slippery with blood, and strewed with the bodies of the 
dead. As he went forward, the captain of the Frolic, with 
two other officers, who were standing on the quarter-deck, 
threw down their swords, and made an inclination of their 
bodies, denoting that they had surrendered. At this moment 
the colours were still flying, as, probably, none of the seamen 
of the Frolic would dare to go into the rigging for fear of the 
musketry of the Wasp. Lieutenant Biddle, therefore, jumped 
into the rigging, and hauled down the British ensign, and pos- 
session was taken of the Frolic in forty-three minutes after 
the first fire. She was in a shocking condition; the berth- 
deck, particularly, was crowded with the dead, wounded and 
dying ; a small proportion of the Frolic's crew only had 
escaped. Captain Jones instantly sent on board his surgeon's 
mate ; and all the blankets of the Frolic were brought from 
her slop-room for the comfort of the wounded. To increase 
this confusion, both the Frolic's masts soon fell, covering the 
dead and every thing on deck, and she lay a complete wreck. 
" It now appeared that the Frolic mounted sixteen thirty- 
two pound carronades, four twelve-pounders on the main- 
deck, and two twelve-pound carronades. She was, therefore, 
superior to the Wasp by exactly four twelve-pounders. The 
number of men on board, as stated by the officers of the 
Frolic, was one hundred and ten — the number of seamen on 
board the Wasp was one hundred and two; but it could not 
be ascertained, whether in this one hundred and ten were 
included the marines and officers ; for the Wasp had, besides 
her one hundred and two men, officers and marines, making 
the whole crew about one hundred and thirty-five. What is, 
however, decisive as to their comparative force, is, that the 
officers of the Frolic acknowledged that they had as many 
men as they knew what to do with, and in fact the Wasp 
could have spared fifteen men. There was, therefore, on the 
most favourable view, at least an equality of men, and an 



508 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 



inequality of four guns. The disparity of loss was much 
greater. The exact number of killed and wounded on board 
the Frolic could not be precisely determined ; but from the 
observations of our officers, and the declarations of those of 
the Frolic, the number could not be less than about thirty 
killed, including two officers ; and of the wounded, between 
forty and fifty, the captain and second-lieutenant being of the 
number. The Wasp had five men killed and five slightly 
wounded. 

"All hands were now employed in clearing the deck, burying 
the dead, and taking care of the wounded, when Captain 
Jones sent orders to Lieutenant Biddle to proceed to Charles- 
ton, or any other southern port of the United States ; and, as 
a suspicious sail was seen to windward, the Wasp would 
continue her cruise. The ships then parted. The suspicious 
sail was now coming down very fast. At first it was supposed 
that she was one of the convoy, who had all fled during the 
engagement, and who now came for the purpose of attacking 
the prize. The guns of the Frolic were therefore loaded, 
and the ship cleared for action ; but the enemy, as she ad- 
vanced, proved to be a seventy-four, the Poictiers, Captain 
Beresford. She fired a shot over the Frolic ; passed her ; 
overtook the Wasp, the disabled state of whose rigging pre^ 
vented her from escaping ; and then returned to the Frolic, 
which could, of course, make no resistance. The Wasp and 
Frolic were carried into Bermuda. 

*' On the return of Captain Jones to the United States, he 
was everywhere received with the utmost demonstrations of 
gratitude and admiration. Brilliant entertainments were 
given him in the cities through which he passed. The Legis- 
lature of his native State appointed a committee to wait on 
him with their thanks, and to express the "pride and plea- 
sure" they felt in recognising him as a native of their State. 
In the same resolution, they voted him an elegant piece of 
plate, with appropriate engravings. The Congress of the 
United States, on motion of Mr. J. A. Bayard, of Delaware, 
appropriated $25,000, as a compensation to Captain Jones 
and his crew, for the loss they sustained by the recapture of 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 509 

the Frolic. They also ordered a gold medal to be presented 
to the captain, and a silver one to each of his officers." 

Various other marks of honour were paid by the legislatures 
and citizens of different States ; but the most substantial tes- 
timony of approbation which he received, was the appoint- 
ment to the command of the frigate Macedonian, captured 
from the British. 



CHAPTER VI. 

The Frigate United States captures the Macedonian — Battle fought — Gene- 
rosity of the Americans to the Enemy — Story of an Eye-Witness. 

" Look here, upon this picture, and on this." — Hamlet. 

" This was the noblest Roman of them all." — Julius Csesar. 

If any doubt could still have been entertained of the ability 
of the republican navy to contend successfully with that of 
England, it was remov od by the result of another engagement, 
which took place no long time afterwards, between two ves- 
sels of similar forcee to the Constitution and Guerriere. The 
frigate United States, Captain Decatur, sailed from Boston 
on the 8th of October, in company with the President, Con- 
gress, and Argus, and separated from them on the 13th. On 
the 25th, being in the vicinity of the Western Islands, she 
fell in with the British frigate Macedonian, of forty-nine guns 
and three hundred men; a vessel newly built, and in u perfect 
state of equipment. Being to windward, the latter had the 
advantage of choosing her distance ; and, as the United 
States was, in a great part, armed with carronades, she was 
thus prevented from making use of a considerable portion of 
her force. In consequence of this circumstance, the action 
lasted an hour and a half; but when the American frigate 
was enabled to bring her opponent to close quarters, the en- 
gagement was soon terminated. The mizenmast anrl most of 
the spars of the Macedonian being shot away, she surrendered, 
with the loss of thirty-six killed, and sixty-eight wounded. 

That of the United States was only four killed and seven 

__ 



510 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 

wounded ; among the former of whom was Lieutenant John 
Musser Funk. The damage sustained by the United States 
was not so great as to render it necessary for her to return 
to port ; but it was deemed proper to accompany her prize 
into the United States, where both vessels arrived on the 4th 
of December. 

An act of generosity and benevolence on the part of the 
brave tars of this victorious frigate deserves to be honourably 
recorded. The carpenter, who was unfortunately killed in 
the conflict with the Macedonian, had left three small children 
to the care of a worthless mother. When the circumstance 
became known to the brave seamen, they instantly made a 
contribution amongst themselves, to the amount of $800, and 
placed it in safe hands, to be appropriated to the education 
and maintenance of the unhappy orphans. 

This engagement took place on Sunday, and the following 
account is given of it by an eye-witness on board the Mace- 
donian, who was afterwards taken prisoner : 

" The Sabbath came, and it brought with it a stiff breeze. 
We usually made a sort of a holiday of this sacred day. After 
breakfast it was common to muster the entire crew on the 
spar-deck, dressed as the fancy of the captain might dictate ; 
sometimes in blue jackets and white trowsers, or blue jackets 
and blue trowsers ; at other times in blue jackets, scarlet 
vests, and blue or white trowsers ; with our bright anchor 
buttons glancing in the sun, and our black glossy hats orna- 
mented with black ribbons on them. After muster, we fre- 
quently had church service read by the captain ; the rest of 
the day was devoted to idleness. But we were destined to 
spend the Sabbath, just introduced to the reader, in a very 
diff(3rent manner. 

"We had scarcely finished breakfast, before the man at the 
mast-head shouted, ' Sail, ho !' 

" The captain rushed upon deck, exclaiming, ' Mast-head, 
there !' 

" ' Sir !' 

" ' Where away 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 511 



"The precise answer to this question I do not recollect, but 
the captain proceeded to ask, 'What does she look like?' 

" 'A square-rigged vessel, sir,' was the reply of the look- 
out. 

"After a few minutes the captain shouted again, * Mast- 
head, there!' 

" ' Sir !' 

" ' What does she look like V 

"*A large ship, sir, standing towards us !* 

" By this time most of the crew were on deck, eagerly 
straining their eyes to obtain a glimpse of the approaching 
ship, and murmuring their opinions to each other on her pro- 
bable character. Then came the voice of the captain, shout- 
ing, ' Keep silence, fore and aft !' Silence being secured, he 
hailed the look-out, who, to his question of 'What does she 
look like V replied, 'A large frigate, bearing down upon us, 
sir.' 

"A whisper ran along the crew, that the stranger ship was 
a Yankee frigate. The thought was confirmed by the com- 
mand of 'All hands clear the ship for action, ahoy !' The 
drum and fife beat to quarters ; bulkheads were knocked 
away ; the guns were released from their confinement ; the 
whole dread paraphernalia of battle was produced ; and 
after the lapse of a few minutes of hurry and confusion, 
every man and boy was at his post, ready to do his best ser- 
vice for his country, except the band, who, claiming exemp- 
tion from the affray, safely stowed themselves away in the 
cable-tier. We had only one sick man on the list; and he, 
at the cry of battle, hurried from his cot, feeble as he was, 
to take his post of danger. A few of the junior midshipmen 
were stationed below, on the berth-deck, with orders, given 
in our hearing, to shoot any man who attempted to run from 
his quarters. 

" Our men were all in good spirits, though they did not 
scruple to express the wish that the coming foe was a French- 
man rather than a Yankee. We had been told by the Ame- 
ricans on board, that frigates in the American service carried 
more and heavier metal than ours. This, together with our 



512 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 



consciousness of superiority over the French at sea, led us to 
a preference for a French antagonist. 

" The Americans among our number felt quite disconcerted 
at the necessity which compelled them to fight against their 
own countrymen. One of them, named John Card, as brave 
a seaman as ever trod a plank, ventured to present himself 
to the captain, as a prisoner, frankly declaring his objections 
to fight. That officer, very ungenerously, ordered him to his 
quarters, threatening to shoot him if he made the request 
again. Poor fellow ! he obeyed the unjust command, and was 
killed by a shot from his own countrymen. This fact is more 
disgraceful to the captain of the Macedonian than even the 
loss of his ship. It was a gross and a palpable violation of 
the rights of man. 

"As the approaching ship showed American colours, all 
doubt of her character was at end. ' We must fight her,' 
was the conviction of every breast. Every possible arrange- 
ment that could insure success, was accordingly made. The 
guns were shotted; the matches lighted; for, although our 
guns were all furnished with first-rale locks, they were also 
provided with matches, attached by lanyards, in case the 
lock should miss fire. A lieutenant then passed through the 
ship, directing the marines and boarders, who were furnished 
with pikes, cutlasses, and pistols, how to proceed, if it should 
be necessary to board the enemy. He was followed by the 
captain, who exhorted the men to fidelity and courage, urging 
upon their consideration the well-known motto of the brave 
Nelson, ' England expects every man to do his duty.' In 
addition to all these preparations on deck, some men were 
stationed in the tops, with small-arms, whose duty it was to 
attend to trimming the sails, and to use their muskets, pro- 
vided we came to close action. There were also others below, 
called sail-trimmers, to assist in working the ship, should it 
be necessary to shift her position during the battle. 

" My station was at the fifth gun on the main-deck. It was 
my duty to supply my gun with powder, a boy being ap- 
pointed to each gun in the ship on the side we engaged, for 
this purpose. A woollen screen was placed before the en- 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 513 

trance to the magazine, with a hole in it, through which the 
cartridges were passed to the boys ; we received them there, 
and, covering them with our jackets, hurried to our respec- 
tive guns. These precautions are observed to prevent the 
powder taking fire before it reaches the gun. 

" Thus we all stood, awaiting orders, in motionless sus- 
pense. At last we fired three guns from the larboard side of 
the main-deck ; this was followed by the command, ' Cease 
firing; you are throwing away your shot !' 

*' Then came the order to ' wear ship,' and prepare to attack 
the enemy with our starboard guns. Soon after this, I heard 
a firing from some other quarter, which I at first supposed to 
be a discharge from our quarter-deck guns ; though it proved 
to be the roar of the enemy's cannon. 

"A strange noise, such as I had never heard before, next 
arrested my attention ; it sounded like the tearing of sails, just 
over our heads. This I soon ascertained to be the wind of the 
enemy's shot. The firing, after a few minutes' cessation, re- 
commenced. The roaring of cannon could now be heard 
from all ptirts of our trembling ship, and, mingling as it did 
with that of our foes, it made a most hideous noise. By-and- 
by I heard the shot strike the sides of our ship ; the whole 
scene grew indescribably confused and horrible ; it was like 
some awfully tremendous thunder-storm, whose deafening 
roar is attended by incessant streaks of lightning, carrying 
death in every flash, and strewing the ground with the vic- 
tims of its wrath : only, in our case, the scene was rendered 
more horrible than that, by the presence of torrents of blood 
which dyed our deck. 

" Though the recital may be painful, yet, as it will reveal 
the horrors of war, and show at what a fearful price a vic- 
tory is won or lost, I will present the reader with things as 
they met my eye during the progress of this dreadful fight. 
I was busily supplying my gun. with powder, when I saw 
blood suddenly fly from the arm of a man stationed at our 
gun. 1 saw nothing strike him; the effect alone was visible; 
in an instant, the third-lieutenant tied his handkerchief round 
^ g5 



514 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 

the wounded arm, and sent the groaning wretch below to the 
surgeon. 

" The cries of the wounded now rang through all parts of 
the ship. These were carried to the cockpit as fast as they 
fell, while those more fortunate men, who were killed out- 
right, were immediately thrown overboard. As I was sta- 
tioned but a short distance from the main hatchway, I could 
catch a glance at all who were carried below. A glance was 
all I could indulge in, for the boys belonging to the guns next 
to mine were wounded in the early part of the action, and I 
had to spring with all my might to keep three or four guns 
supplied with cartridges. I saw two of these lads fall nearly 
together. One of them was struck in the leg by a large shot ; 
he had to suffer amputation above the wound. The other 
had a grape or canister-shot sent through his ankle ; a stout 
Yorkshireman lifted him in his arms and hurried him to the 
cockpit. He had his foot cut off, and was thus made lame 
for life. Two of the boys stationed on the quarter-deck were 
killed. They were both Portuguese. A man, who saw one 
of them killed, afterwards told me that his powder caught 
fire and burnt the flesh almost off his face. In this pitiable 
situation, the agonized boy lifted up both hands, as if implor- 
ing relief, when a passing shot instantly cut him in two. 

" I was an eye-witness to a sight equally revolting. A 
man named Aldrich had one of his hands cut off by a shot, 
and almost at the same moment he received another shot, 
which tore open his bowels in a terrible manner ; as he fell, 
two or three men caught him in their arms, and, as he could 
not live, threw him overboard. 

'• One of the officers in my division also fell in my sight. 
He was a noble- hearted fellow, named Nan Kivell. A grape 
or canister-shot struck him near the heart ; exclaiming, ' Oh ! 
my God !' he fell, and was carried below, where he shortly 
after died. 

" Mr. Hope, our first-lieutenant, was also slightly wounded 
by a grummet, or small iron ring, probably torn from a ham- 
mock-clew by a shot. He went below, shouting to the men 
to fight on. Having had his wound dressed, he came up 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 515 

again, shouting to us at the top of his voice, and bidding us 
fight with all our might. There was not a man in the ship 
but would have rejoiced had he been in the place of our mas- 
ter's mate, the unfortunate Nan Kivell. 

" The battle went on. Our men kept cheering with all 
their might. I cheered with them, though I confess I scarcely 
knew for what. Certainly there was nothing very inspiriting 
in the aspect of things where I was stationed. So terrible 
had- been the work of destruction around us, it w^as termed 
the slaughter-house. Not only had we several boys and men 
killed or wounded, but several of the guns were disabled. 
The one I belonged to had a piece of the muzzle knocked 
out; and when the ship rolled, it struck a beam of the upper 
deck with such force as to become jammed and fixed in that 
position. A twenty-four pound shot had also passed through 
the screen of the magazine, immediately over the orifice 
through which we passed our powder. The schoolmaster 
received a death-wound. The brave boatswain, who came 
from the sick boy to the din of battle, was fastening a stopper 
on a backstay, which had been shot away, when his head 
was smashed to pieces by a cannon-ball ; another man, going 
to complete the unfinished task, was also struck down. An- 
other of our midshipmen also received a severe wound. The 
unfortunate wardroom steward, who the reader will recollect 
attempted to cut his throat on a former occasion, was killed. 
A fellow named John, who, for some petty offence, had been 
sent on board as a punishment, w as carried past me wounded. 
I distinctly heard the large blood-drops fall pat, pat, pat, on 
the deck : his wounds were mortal. Even a poor goat, kept 
by the officers for her milk, did not escape the general car- 
nage ; her hind-legs were shot off, and poor Nan was thrown 
overboard. 

" Such was the terrible scene, amid which we kept on our 
shouting and firing. Our men fought like tigers. Some of 
them pulled oflf their jackets, others their jackets and vests; 
while some, still more determined, had taken off their shirts, 
and, with nothing but a handkerchief tied round the waist- 
bands of their trowsers, fought like heroes. Jack Sadler, 



516 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 



whom the reader will recollect, was one of these. I also ob- 
served a boy, named Cooper, stationed at a gun some distance 
from the magazine. He came to and fro on the full run, and 
appeared to be as * merry as a cricket.' The third-lieutenant 
cheered him along, occasionally, by saying, ' Well done, my 
boy, you are worth your weight in gold.' 

" I have often been asked what were my feelings during 
this fight. I felt pretty much as I suppose every one does at 
such a time. That men are without thought when they stand 
amid the dying and the dead, is too absurd an idea to be en- 
tertained a moment. We all appeared cheerful, but I know 
that many a serious thought ran through my mind. Still, 
what could we do but keep up a semblance, at least, of ani- 
mation ? To run from our quarters would have been certain 
death from the hands of our own officers ; to give m ay to 
gloom, or to show fear, would do no good, and might brand 
us with the name of cowards, and insure certain defeat ; our 
only true philosophy, therefore, was to make the best of our 
situation, by fighting bravely and cheerfully. I thought a 
great deal, however, of the other world ; every groan, every 
falling man, told me that the next instant I might be before 
the Judge of all the earth. For this, I felt unprepared : but 
being without any particular knowledge of religious truth, I 
satisfied myself by repeating again and again the Lord's 
prayer, and promising that if spared I would be more atten- 
tive to religious duties than ever before. This promise I had 
no doubt, at the time, of keeping; but I have learned since, 
that it is easier to make promises amidst the roar of the bat- 
tle's thunder, or in the horrors of shipwreck, than to keep 
them when danger is absent, and safety smiles upon our path. 

" While these thoughts secretly agitated my bosom, the (Jin 
of battle continued. Grape and canister-shot were pouring 
through our port-holes like leaden rain, carrying death in 
their trail. The large shot came against the ship's side like 
iron hail, shaking her to the very keel, or passing through 
her timbers, and scattering terrific splinters, which did a 
more appalling work than even their own death-giving blows. 
The reader mav form an idea of the eflfect of grape and 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 517 



canister, when he is told that grape-shot is formed by seven 
or eight balls, confined to an iron, and tied in a cloth. These 
balls are scattered by the explosion of the powder. Canister- 
shot is made by filling a powder-canister with balls, each as 
large as two or three musket-balls ; these also scatter with 
direful effect when discharged. What, then, with splinters, 
cannon-balls, grape, and canister poured incessantly upon us, 
the reader may be assured that the work of death went on 
in a manner which must have been satisfactory even to the 
King of terrors himself. 

" Suddenly, the rattling of the iron hail ceased. We were 
ordered to cease firing. A profound silence ensued, broken 
only by the stifled groans of the brave sufferers below. It 
was soon ascertained that the enemy had shot ahead to repair 
damages, for she was not so disabled but she could sail with- 
out difficulty ; while we were so cut up that we lay utterly 
helpless. Our head-braces were shot away ; the fore and 
main-topmasts were gone ; the mizen-mast hung over the 
stern, having carried several men over in its fall : we were in 
the state of a complete wreck. 

"A council was now held among the officers on the 
quarter-deck. Our condition was perilous in the extreme ; 
victory or escape was alike hopeless. Our ship was disabled, 
many of our men were killed, and many more wounded. 
The enemy would, without doubt, bear down upon us in a 
few moments ; and, as she could now choose her own position, 
would, without doubt, rake us fore and aft. Any further 
resistance was, therefore, folly. So, in spite of the hot- 
brained lieutenant, Mr. Hope, who advised them not to strike, 
but to sink alongside, it was determined to strike our bunting. 
This was done by the hands of a brave fellow, named Watson, 
whose saddened brow told how severely it pained his lion 
heart to do it. To me it was a pleasing sight, for I had seen 
fighting enough for one Sabbath ; more than I wished to see 
again on a week-day. His Britannic Majesty's frigate Mace- 
donian was now the prize of the American frigate United 
States. 

" Before detailing the subsequent occurrences in my history, 



518 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 



I will present the curious reader with a copy of Captain 
Garden's letter to the government, describing this action. It 
will serve to show how he excused himself for his defeat, as 
well as throw some light on those parts of the contest which 
were invisible to me at my station. My mother presented 
me with this document, on my return to England. She had 
received it from Lord Churchill, and had carefully preserved 
it for twenty years. 

" 'Admiralty Office, Dec. 29, 1812. 

" ' Copy of a letter from Captain John Surman Carden, late 
commander of his Majesty's ship the Macedonian, to John 
Wilson Croker, Esq. ; dated on board the American ship 
United States, at sea, the 28th October, 1812 : — 

" ' Sir, — It is with the deepest regret, I have to acquaint 
you, for the information of my Lords Commissioners of the 
Admiralty, that his Majesty's late ship, Macedonian, was 
captured on the 28th instant, by the United States ship 
United States, Commodore Decatur commander. The details 
are as follows : 

" 'A short time after daylight, steering N. W. by W., with 
the wind from the southward, in latitude 29° N., and longitude 
29° 30' W., in the execution of their lordships' orders, a sail 
was seen on the lee-beam, which I immediately stood for, and 
made her out to be a large frigate, under American colours. 
At nine o'clock, I closed with her, and she commenced the 
action, which we returned ; but from the enemy keeping two 
points off the wind, I was not enabled to get as close to her 
as I could have wished. After an hour's action, the enemy 
backed and came to the wind, and I was then enabled to 
bring her to close battle. In this situation I soon found the 
enemy's force too superior to expect success, unless some 
very fortunate chance occurred in our favour ; and with this 
hope I continued the battle to two hours and ten minutes ; 
when, having the mizenmast shot away by the board, top- 
masts shot away by the caps, main-yard shot in pieces, 
lower masts badly wounded, lower rigging all cut to pieces, 
a small proportion only of the foresail left to the fore-yard. 



18112.] THE LATE WAR. 519 

all the guns on the quarter-deck and forecastle disabled 
but two, and filled with wreck ; two also on the main-deck 
disabled, and several shot between wind and water ; a very 
great proportion of the crew killed and wounded, and the 
enemy comparatively in good order, and who had now 
shot ahead, and was about to place himself in a raking 
position, without our being enabled to return the fire, being 
a perfect wreck and an unmanageable log ; I deemed it pru- 
dent, though a painful extremity, to surrender His Majesty's 
ship; nor was this dreadful alternative resorted to till every 
hope of success was removed, even beyond the reach of 
chance; nor till, I trust their lordships will be aware, every 
effort had been made against the enemy by myself, and my 
brave officers and men ; nor should she have been surrendered 
whilst a man lived on board, had she been manageable. I 
am sorry to say our loss is very severe ; I find by this day's 
muster, thirty-six killed, three of whom lingered a short time 
after the battle ; thirty-six severely wounded, many of whom 
cannot recover, and thirty-two slightly wounded, who may 
all do well ; total, one hundred and four. 

" ' The truly noble and animating conduct of my ofllicers, 
and the steady bravery of my crew, to the last moment of 
the battle, must ever render them dear to their country. 

"'My first-lieutenant, David Hope, was severely wounded 
in the head, towards the close of the battle, and taken below, 
but was soon again on deck, displaying that greatness of mind 
and exertion which, though it may be equalled, can never be 
excelled. The third-lieutenant, John Bulford, was also 
wounded, but not obliged to quit his quarters ; second-lieu- 
tenant Samuel Mottley, and he deserves my highest acknow- 
ledgments. The cool and steady conduct of Mr. Walker, 
the master, was very great during the battle, as also that 
of lieutenants Wilson and Magill of the marines. 

" ' On being taken on board the enemy's ship, I ceased to 
wonder at the result of the battle. The United States is 
built with the scantling of a seventy-four gun-ship, mounting 
thirty long twenty-four pounders (English ship-guns) on her 
main-deck, and twenty-two forty-two pounders, carronades. 



520 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 



with two long twenty-four pounders, on her quarter-deck and 
forecastle, howitzer guns in her tops, and a travelling carron- 
ade on her upper deck, with a complement of four hundred 
and seventy-eight picked men. 

" ' The enemy has suffered much in masts, rigging, and 
hull, above and below water. Her loss in killed and wounded 
I am not aware of; but I know a lieutenant and six men have 
been thrown overboard. Jno. S. Garden. 

" 'To J. W. Croker, Esq., Admiralty.' 

" Lord Churchill sent the above letter, with a list of the 
killed and wounded annexed, to inform my mother that the 
name of her son was not among the number. The act shows 
how much he could sympathize with a mother's feelings. 

" I now went below, to see how matters appeared there. 
The first object I met was a man bearing a limb, which had 
just been detached from some suffering wretch. Pursuing my 
way to the ward-room, I necessarily passed through the steer- 
age, which was strewed with the wounded : it was a sad 
spectacle, made more appalling by the groans and cries which 
rent the air. Some were groaning, others were swearing 
most bitterly, a few were praying, while those last arrived 
were begging most piteously to have their wounds dressed 
next. The surgeon and his mate were smeared with blood 
from head to foot : they looked more like butchers than doc- 
tors. Having so many patients, they had once shifted their 
quarters from the cockpit to the steerage ; they now removed 
to the ward-room, and the long table, round which the officers 
had sat over many a merry feast, was soon covered with the 
bleeding forms of maimed and mutilated seamen. 

" While looking around the ward-room, I heard a noise 
above, occasioned by the arrival of the boats from the con- 
quering frigate. Very soon a lieutenant, I think his name 
was Nicholson, came into the ward-room, and said to the busy 
surgeon, * How do you do, Doctor V 

" ' I have enough to do ;' replied he, shaking his head 
thoughtfully ; ' you have made wretched work for us !' These 
officers were not strangers to each other, for the reader will 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 521 

recollect that the commanders and officers of these two fri- 
gates had exchanged visits when we were lying at Norfolk, 
some months before. 

" I now set to work to render all the aid in my power to 
the sufferers. Our carpenter, named Reed, had his leg cut 
off. I helped to carry him to the ward-room ; but he soon 
breathed out his life there ; then I assisted in throwing his 
mangled remains overboard. We got out the cots as fast as 
possible, for most of them were stretched out on the gory 
deck. One poor fellow, who lay with a broken thigh, begged 
me to give him water. I gave him some. He looked unut- 
terable gratitude, drank and died. It was with exceeding 
difficulty I moved through the steerage, it was so covered 
with mangled men, and so slippery with streams of blood. 
There was a poor boy there crying as if his heart would 
break; he had been servant to the bold boatswain, whose 
head was dashed to pieces. Poor boy ! he felt that he had 
lost a friend. I tried to comfort him by reminding him that 
he ought to be thankful for having escaped death himself. 

" Here, also, I met one of the messmates, who showed the 
utmost joy at seeing me alive, for, he said, he had heard that 
I was killed. He was looking up his messmates, which he 
said was always done by sailors. We found two of our mess 
wounded ; one was the Swede, Lagholm, who fell overboard, 
as mentioned in a former chapter, and was nearly lost. We 
held him while the surgeon cut off his leg above the knee. 
The task was most painful to behold, the surgeon using his 
knife and saw on human flesh and bones, as freely as the 
butcher at the shambles does on the carcass of the beast ! 
Our other messmate suffered still more than the Swede ; he 
was sadly mutilated about the legs and thighs with splinters. 
Such scenes of suffering as I saw in that ward-room, I hope 
never to witness again. Could the civilized world behold 
them as they were, and as they often are, infinitely worse 
than on that occasion, it seems to me they would forever put 
down the barbarous practices of war by universal consent. 

" Most of our officers and men were taken on board the 
victor ship. I was left, with a few others, to take care of the 



522 THE AR3IY AND NAVY. [1812. 



wounded. My master, the sailing-master, was also among 
the officers who continued in their ship. Most of the men 
who remained were unfit for any service, having broken into 
the spirit-room and made themselves drunk ; some of them 
broke into the purser's room and helped themselves to clothing; 
while others, by previous agreement, took possession of their 
dead messmates' property. For my own part, I was content 
to help myself to a little of the officers' provisions, which did 
me more good than could be obtained from rum. What was 
worse than all, however, was the folly of the sailors in giv- 
ing spirit to their wounded messmates, since it only served to 
aggravate their distress. 

"Amono- the wounded was a brave fellow named Wells. 
After the surgeon had- amputated and dressed his arm, he 
walked about in fine spirits, as if he had received only a 
slight injury. Indeed, while under the operation, he mani- 
fested a similar heroism — observing to the surgeon, * I have 
lost my arm in the service of my country ; but I don't mind 
it. Doctor, it's the fortune of war.' Cheerful and gay as he 
was, he soon died. His companions gave him rum ; he was 
attacked by fever and died : thus his messmates actually 
killed him with kindness. 

" We had all sorts of dispositions and temperaments among 
our crew. To me it was a matter of great interest to watch 
their various manifestations. Some who had lost their mess- 
mates appeared to care nothing about it, while others were 
grieving with all the tenderness of women ; of these, was 
the survivor of two seamen, who had formerly been soldiers 
in the same regiment ; he bemoaned the loss of his comrade 
with expressions of the profoundest grief. There were, also, 
two boatswain's mates, named Adams and Brown, who had 
been messmates for several years in the same ship. Brown 
was killed, or so wounded that he died soon after the battle. 
It was really a touching spectacle to see the rough, hardy 
features of the brave old sailor streaming with tears, as he 
picked out the dead body of his friend from among the 
wounded, and gently carried it to the ship's side, saying to 
the inanimate form he bore, ' O, Bill, we have sailed together 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 523 

in a number of ships, we have been in many gales and some 
battles, but this is the worst day I have seen ! We must now 
part !' Here he dropped the body into the deep, and then, a 
fresh torrent of tears streaming over his weather-beaten face, 
he added, ' I can do no more for you. Farewell ! God be 
with you !' Here was an instance of genuine friendship, 
worth more than the heartless professions of thousands, who, 
in the fancied superiority of their elevated position in the 
social circle, will deign nothing but a silly sneer at this record 
of a sailor's grief. 

" The circumstance was rather a singular one, that in both 
the contending frigates the second boatswain's mate bore the 
name of William Brown, and that they both were killed ; yet 
such was the fact. 

" The great number of the wounded kept our surgeon and 
his mate busily employed at their horrid work until late at 
night ; and it was a long time before they had much leisure. 
I remember passing around the ship the day after the battle ; 
coming to a hammock, I found some one in it, apparently 
asleep. I spoke ; he made no answer. I looked into the 
hammock ; he was dead. My messmates coming up, we 
threw the corpse overboard ; that was no time for useless ce- 
remony. The man had probably crawled to his hammock 
the day before, and, not being perceived in the general dis- 
tress, bled to death ! O, War ! who can reveal thy miseries ! 

" When the crew of the United States first boarded our 
frigate, to take possession of her as their prize, our men, 
heated with the fury of the battle, exasperated with the sight 
of their dead and wounded shipmates, and rendered furious 
by the rum they had obtained from the spirit-room, felt and 
exhibited some disposition to fight their captors. But after 
the confusion had subsided, and part of our men were snugly 
stowed away in the American ship, and the remainder found 
themselves kindly used in their own, the utmost good feeling 
began to prevail. We took hold and cleansed the ship, using 
hot vinegar to take out the scent of the blood that had dyed 
the white of our planks with crimson. We also took hold 
and aided in fitting our disabled frigate for her voyage. This 



524 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 

being accomplished, both ships sailed in company toward the 
American coast. 

" I soon felt myself perfectly at home with the American 
seamen ; so much so, that I chose to mess with them. My 
shipmates also participated in similar feelings, in both ships. 
All idea that we had been trying to shoot out each other's 
brains so shortly before, seemed forgotten. We ate together, 
drank together, joked, sung, laughed, told yarns ; in short, a 
perfect union of ideas, feelings, and purposes, seemed to exist 
among all hands. 

"A corresponding state of unanimity existed, I was told, 
among the officers. Commodore Decatur showed himself to 
be a gentleman as well as a hero in his treatment of the offi- 
cers of the Macedonian. When Captain Carden offered his 
sword to the commodore, remarking as he did so, * I am an 
undone man; I am the first British naval officer that has 
struck his flag to an American :" the noble commodore either 
refused to receive the sword, or immediately returned it, 
smiling as he said, ' You are mistaken, sir ; your Guerriere 
has been taken by us, and the flag of a frigate was struck 
before yours.' This somewhat revived the spirits of the old 
captain; but, no doubt, he still felt his soul stung with shame 
and mortification at the loss of his ship. Participating as he 
did in the haughty spirit of the British aristocracy, it was 
natural for him to feel galled and wounded to the quick, in 
the position of a conquered man." 



CHAPTER VII. 

Captain Bainbridge — Constitution captures the British Ship of War Java — 
British Commander killed — Strange Conjectures as to the Causes of the Success 
of the Americans. 

" The hearts of his brethren, with gratitude burning, 
Shall beat to the numbers which welcome the brave." 

Another brilliant victory distinguished the close of the 
year, and added additional lustre to the American navy, 
which had already astonished the world generally, and Great 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 525 



Britain particularly, who began to inquire into the causes of 
their defeats. 

After the return of the frigate Constitution to Boston, Cap- 
tain Hull resigned the command for the purpose of attending 
to his private concerns, and was succeeded by Captain Wil- 
liam Bainbridge. Accompanied by the sloop of war Hornet, 
the Constitution sailed, towards the end of October, on a 
cruise to the coast of South America. On the 29th of De- 
cember, after parting with the Hornet, which was left to 
blockade a sloop of war of equal force, and while near the 
Brazils, two sails were discovered, one of which bore away, 
and the other stood for the American frigate. The enemy 
was soon discovered to be the British ship of war Java, of 
forty-nine guns, and preparations were made on both sides 
for action. At two P. M. the action commenced with great 
vigor, the enemy keeping at long-shot ; but the fire of the 
Constitution was directed with so much precision, that the 
Java was soon disabled in her spars and rigging, and Captain 
Bainbridge having taken a position nearer to his opponent, 
her fire was completely silenced about four o'clock. Con- 
cluding that she had struck, he passed ahead to repair the 
rigging, but finding shortly afterwards that the British flag 
was still flying, he took a raking position on her bows, and 
was about to commence a destructive fire, when the enemy 
called out that he had surrendered. It was soon perceived 
that the Java had been fought with so much obstinacy that 
she was not in a condition to be preserved as a trophy of 
American victory, and Commodore Bainbridge, having re- 
moved her crew and stores, destroyed her on the succeeding 
day. The loss of this vessel was a severe blow to the British. 
She was commanded by Captain Lambert, an officer of merit 
and experience, who was unfortunately killed during the ac- 
tion, and had on board one hundred supernumerary seamen 
for the East India service, besides a lieutenant-general, and 
other officers, and contained also stores of immense value. 
The loss of men was exceedingly great; sixty were killed, 
and upwards of one hundred wounded ; while on board the 
Constitution nine only were killed, and twenty-five were 



526 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1812. 

wounded. The damage, however, received by the latter, and 
her decayed state, rendered it necessary for her to return to 
the United States. After landing her prisoners at St. Salva- 
dor, on parole, she arrived in Boston on the 8th of the suc- 
ceeding month. In this, as well as all the preceding actions, 
the difference between the loss of men on board the vessels 
engaged was strikingly conspicuous. In none of the engage- 
ments between the English and their European antagonists, 
had the disproportion been so manifest. The British writers, 
astonished at the result, accounted for it by supposing that 
riflemen were stationed in the tops of the American vessels, 
whereas in reality it is to be attributed to the great skill and 
experience in the art of firing possessed by the Americans of 
all classes, and the pains that had been taken to discipline 
them in the use of the great guns. If the bravery of the 
American seamen was conspicuous in these encounters, their 
generosity and humanity to their captives were not less strik- 
ingly evinced. The official letters of the British officers bore 
strong testimony to this fact ; but while they acknowledged 
the delicacy and liberality of their enemy, they were not 
restrained in any one instance by similar feelings from exag- 
gerating the force of the American and diminishing their own. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Bloody Action at the river Raisin — Barbarity of British and Indians — Americans 
not buried — Exposed to beasts of prey. 

" He feasts his soul on messages of woe." 

.Tanuary 22d, 1813, a bloody action was fought at the river 
Raisin, between a detachment from the North-Western army, 
exceeding seven hundred and fifty men, under General Win- 
chester, and a combined force of British and Indians, amount- 
ing to one thousand five hundred men, under General Proctor. 
Many of the Americans were killed and wounded ; among 
the latter was General Winchester. The remainder, on sur- 
rendering themselves prisoners of war, were nearly all inhu- 



1812.] THE LATE WAR. 527 

manly massacred by the Indians, contrary to the express sti- 
pulations of General Proctor. 

The station of General Harrison, the commander of the 
North- Western army, was at this time at Franklinton. Ge- 
neral Winchester was stationed at fort Defiance, half-way 
between fort Wayne, on the Miami, and Lake Erie, with 
eight hundred troops, chiefly young men of the first respecta- 
bility, from Kentucky, Learning that a body of British and 
Indians was about to concentrate at Frenchtown, on the river 
Raisin, he sent a detachment to protect that place. Before 
the arrival of the detachment, Frenchtown was occupied by 
a party of the enemy, but they were dislodged after a severe 
engagement, in which the Americans had twelve killed, and 
fifty-five wounded. 

On the 20th, General Winchester joined the detachment at 
Frenchtown, with the remainder of his troops, and on the 
22d the battle of Raisin was fought. After a desperate con- 
flict, in which many on both sides were killed, the Americans 
surrendered, with the express stipulation of being protected 
from the Indians. 

Contrary, however, to these stipulations, the savages were 
permitted to indulge their full thirst for blood. The toma- 
hawk was mercilessly buried in many a bosom, and the scalp- 
ing-knife wantonly tore the crown from many a head. 

Even the last sad rites of sepulture were forbidden by 
their murderers, and the remains of these brave youth of 
Kentucky lay on the ground, beat by the storms of heaven, 
and exposed to the beasts of the forest, until the ensuing au- 
tumn, when their friends and relations ventured to gather up 
their bleaching bones, and consigned them to the tomb. 



528 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Captain Lawrence, of the Hornet, conquers the British Sloop of War Peacock 
— Action lasts only fifteen Minutes — Generosity of the Americans. 

" 0, strike up the harp to the warrior returning 
From the toils and the tempest of ocean's rough wave." 

After blockading an English sloop of war of equal force, 
the United States ship Hornet was compelled, by the appear- 
ance of a seventy-four gun-ship, to take refuge in the harbour 
of St. Salvador, from which she escaped in the night, and 
continued her cruise. Off Demerara, on the 22d of February, 
her commander, Captain Lawrence, observed a large man-of- 
war brig standing towards him. The Hornet was immedi- 
ately cleared for action ; and at twenty-five minutes past five 
the engagement commenced within half pistol-shot, and was 
terminated in fifteen minutes by the surrender of the enemy, 
with six feet water in her hold. The prize proved to be the 
British sloop of war Peacock, of twenty guns and two swi- 
vels, with one hundred and thirty men. Her commander, 
Captain Peake, was killed at the close of the action. So 
severe had been the fire of the Hornet, that it was found im- 
possible to keep the prize afloat until all her crew were removed, 
although the most strenuous exertions were made for that 
purpose. Nine of her crew, and three from the Hornet, who 
were generously endeavouring to save them, went down in 
her. The loss of the British in this action was very severe ; 
of the Americans, only one was killed and two wounded. 
The humanity displayed by the crew of the Hornet, towards 
their prisoners, was as honourable to them as their bravery 
in battle. From the sudden removal of the latter, they were 
left destitute of suitable clothing; and the fact was no sooner 
made known to the American seamen, than they immediately 
divided with them their own equipment, while the public ac- 
knowledgments of the captured officers showed that they had 
received an equal share of generosity and liberality. 

On his return to the United States, Captain Lawrence was 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 529 



promoted to the command of the frigate Chesapeake, then 
lying in the harbour of Boston. 



CHAPTER X. 

Americans attack York, Capital of Upper Canada — Death of General Pike — 
Americans push forward and succeed. 

"The news came like the falling of a mighty oak in the stillness of the 
woods." 

During the winter, which had now passed, Great Britain 
sent a number of troops to Halifax, and made considerable 
preparations for the defence of Canada. Similar preparations 
had been urged by the American government, with the hope 
of completing the conquest of that territory before the close 
of another campaign. 

About the middle of April, the commander-in-chief, Gene- 
ral Dearborn, determined to attack York, the capital of Up- 
per Canada, the great depository of British military stores, 
whence the western posts were supplied. Accordingly, on 
the 27th, a successful attack was made, and York fell into 
the hands of the Americans, with all its stores. 

The command of the troops, one thousand seven hundred, 
detached for this purpose, was given to General Pike. On 
the 25th, the fleet, under Commodore Chauncey, moved down 
the lake, with the troops from Sackett's Harbour, and, on the 
27th, arrived at the place of debarkation, about two miles 
westward from York, and one and a half from the enemy's 
works. The British, consisting of about seven hundred and 
fifty regulars, and five hundred Indians, under General Sheaflfe, 
attempted to oppose the landing, but were thrown into disor- 
der, and fled to their garrison. 

General Pike, having formed his men, proceeded towards 
the enemy's fortifications. On their near approach to the 
barracks, about sixty rods from the garrison, an explosion 
took place which killed about one hundred of the Americans, 
among whom was the gallant Pike. 

~ 67 2^ 



530 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 

Pike lived to direct his troops, for a moment thrown into 
disorder, " to move on." This they noM^ did under Colonel 
Pearce ; and, proceeding tovi^ards the town, took possession 
of the barracks. On approaching it, they were met by the 
officers of the Canada militia with offers of capitulation. At 
four o'clock the troops entered the town. 

The loss of the British, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 
amounted to seven hundred and fifty ; the Americans lost, in 
killed and wounded, about three hundred. 

During the remainder of the spring, the war continued 
along the Canada line, and on some parts of the sea-board ; 
but nothing important was achieved by either power. The 
Chesapeake Bay was blockaded by the British, and predatory 
excursions, by their troops, were made at Havre-de-Grace, 
Georgetown, &c. Several villages were burnt, and much 
property plundered and destroyed. To the north of the Che- 
sapeake, the coast was not exempt from the effects of the 
war. A strict blockade was kept up at New York. The 
American frigates United States and Macedonian, and the 
sloop Hornet, attempted to sail on a cruise from that port, 
about the beginning of May, but were prevented. In another 
attempt, they were chased into New London harbour, where 
they were blockaded by a fleet under Commodore Hardy, for 
many months. Fort George, in Canada, was taken by the 
Americans. Sackett's Harbour was attacked by one thou- 
sand British, who were repelled with considerable loss. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Loss of the Chesapeake — Terrible Carnage — Death of Lawrence — Buried at 
Hahfax by the British with the Honours of War. 

" Don't give up the ship." 

On returning to this country, after his victorious career 
already recorded, Captain Lawrence was received with dis- 
tinction and applause, and various public bodies conferred on 
him peculiar tokens of approbation. While absent, the rank 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 531 



of post-captain had been conferred on him, and shortly after 
his return, he received a letter from the Secretary of the 
Navy, offering him the command of the frigate Constitution, 
provided neither Captains Porter nor Evans applied for it, 
they being older officers. Captain Lawrence respectfully de- 
clined this conditional appointment for satisfactory reasons, 
which he stated to the Secretary. He then received an un- 
conditional appointment to that frigate, and directions to 
superintend the navy-yard at New York in the absence of 
Captain Ludlow. The next day, to his great surprise and 
chagrin, he received counter-orders, with instructions to take 
command of the frigate Chesapeake, then lying at Boston, 
nearly ready for sea. This appointment was particularly 
disagreeable to him. He was prejudiced against the Chesa- 
peake, both from her being considered the worst ship in our 
navy, and from having been in a manner disgraced in the 
affair with the Leopard. This last circumstance had acquired 
her the character of an unlucky ship — the worst of stigmas 
among sailors, who are devout believers in good and bad luck ; 
and so detrimental was it to this vessel, that it had been diffi- 
cult to recruit crews for her. 

The extreme repugnance that Captain Lawrence felt to 
this appointment, induced him to write to the Secretary of 
the Navy, requesting to be continued in the command of the 
Hornet: besides, it was his wish to remain some short time 
in port, and enjoy a little repose in the bosom of his family ; 
particularly as his wife was in that delicate situation that 
most calls forth the tenderness and solicitude of an affection- 
ate husband. But though he wrote four letters to the secre- 
tary, he never received an answer, and was obliged reluc- 
tantly to acquiesce. 

While lying in Boston roads, nearly ready for sea, the 
British frigate Shannon appeared off the harbour, and made 
signals expressive of a challenge. The brave Lawrence im- 
mediately determined on accepting it, though conscious at 
the time of the great disparity between the two ships. The 
Shannon was a prime vessel, equipped in an extraordinary 
manner, for the express purpose of combating advantageously 



532 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



one of our largest frigates. She had an unusually numerous 
crew of picked men, thoroughly disciplined and well officered. 
She was commanded by Captain Broke, one of the bravest 
and ablest officers in the service, who fought merely for repu- 
tation. 

On the other hand, the Chesapeake was an indifferent ship, 
with a crew, a great part of whom were newly recruited, 
and not brought into a proper discipline. They were stran- 
gers to their commander, who had not had time to produce 
that perfect subordination, yet strong personal attachment, 
which he had the talent of creating wherever he commanded. 
His first -lieutenant was sick on shore ; the other officers, 
though meritorious, were young men ; two of them mere act- 
ing lieutenants ; most of them recently appointed to the ship, 
and unacquainted with the men. 

The most earnest endeavours were used, by Commodore 
Bainbridge and other gentlemen, to dissuade Captain Law- 
rence from what was considered a rash and unnecessary ex- 
posure. He felt and acknowledged the force of their reasons, 
but persisted in his determination. He was peculiarly situ- 
ated : he had formerly challenged the Bonne Citoyenne, and 
should he decline a similar challenge, it might subject him to 
sneers and misrepresentations. Among the other unfortunate 
circumstances that attended this ill-starred battle, was the 
delay of a written challenge from Captain Broke, which did 
not arrive until after Captain Lawrence had sailed. It is 
stated to have been couched in the most bland and courteous 
language ; minutely detailing the force of his ship ; and offer- 
ing, if the Chesapeake should not be completely prepared, to 
cruise off and on till such time as she made a specified signal 
of being ready for the conflict. It is to be deeply regretted 
that Captain Lawrence did not receive that gallant challenge, 
as it would have given him time to put his ship in proper 
order, and spared him the necessity of hurrying out in his 
unprepared condition, to so formal and momentous an en- 
counter. . 

After getting the ship under way, he called the crew toge- 
ther, and having ordered the white flag to be hoisted, bearing 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 533~1 



the motto, " Free trade and sailors' rights," he, according to 
custom, made them a short harangue. While he was speak- 
ing, several murmurs were heard, and strong symptoms of 
dissatisfaction appeared in the manners and countenances of 
the crew. After he had finished, a scoundrel Portuguese, who 
was boatswain's-mate, and acted as spokesman to the mur- 
murers, replied to Captain Lawrence in an insolent manner, 
complaining, among other things, that they had not been paid 
their prize-money, which had been due for some time past. 

The critical nature of the moment, and his ignorance of the 
dispositions and characters of his crew, would not allow Cap- 
tain Lawrence to notice such dastardly and mutinous conduct 
in the manner it deserved. He dared not thwart the humours 
of men, over whose affections he had not had time to acquire 
any influence ; he therefore ordered the purser to take them 
below and give them checks for their prize-money, which was 
accordingly done. 

It was on the morning of the 1st of June that the Chesa- 
peake put to sea. The Shannon, on seeing her come out, 
bore away, and the other followed. At 4 P. M. the Chesa- 
peake hauled up and fired a gun ; the Shannon then hove-to. 
The vessels manoeuvred in silence till within pistol-shot, when 
the Shannon opened her fire, and both vessels, almost at the 
same moment, poured forth tremendous broadsides. The exe- 
cution in both ships was terrible, but the fire of the Shannon 
was peculiarly fatal, not only making great slaughter among 
the men, but cutting down some of the most valuable officers. 
The very first shot killed Mr. White, sailing-master of the 
Chesapeake, an excellent officer, whose loss at sucli a mo- 
ment was disastrous in the extreme. The fourth-lieutenant, 
Mr. Ballard, received also a mortal wound in this broadside, 
and at the same moment Captain Lawrence was shot through 
the leg with a musket-ball; he however supported himself on 
the companion-way and continued to give his orders with his 
usual coolness. About three broadsides were exchanged, 
which, from the closeness of the ships, were dreadfully de- 
structive. The Chesapeake had three men shot from her helm 
successively, each taking it as the other fell ; this of course 

__ 



534 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



produced irregularity in the steering, and the consequence 
was, that her anchor caught in one of the Shannon's after- 
ports. She was thus in a position where her guns could not 
be brought to bear upon the enemy, while the latter was en- 
abled to fire raking shots from her foremost guns, which swept 
the upper decks of the Chesapeake, killing or wounding the 
greater portion of the men. A hand-grenade was thrown on 
the quarter-deck, which set fire to some musket-cartridges, 
but did no other damage. 

In this state of carnage and exposure, about twenty of the 
Shannon's men, seeing a favourable opportunity for boarding, 
without waiting for orders, jumped on the deck of the Chesa- 
peake. Captain Lawrence had scarcely time to call his board- 
ers, when he received a second and mortal wound from a 
musket-ball, which lodged in his intestines. Lieutenant Cox, 
who commanded the second division, rushed up at the call for 
the boarders, but came just in time to receive his falling com- 
mander. He was in the act of carrying him below, when 
Captain Broke, accompanied by his first-lieutenant, and fol- 
lowed by his regular boarders, sprung on board the Chesa- 
peake. The brave Lawrence saw the overwhelming danger ; 
his last words, as he was borne bleeding from the deck, were, 
" Don't give up the ship !" 

Samuel Livermore, Esq., of Boston, who, from personal 
attachment to Captain Lawrence, had accompanied him in 
this cruise as chaplain, attempted to revenge his fall. He 
shot at Captain Broke, but missed him : the latter made a cut 
at his head, which Livermore warded off; but, in so doing, 
received a severe wound in the arm. The only officer that 
now remained on the upper deck was Lieutenant Ludlow, 
who was so entirely weakened and disabled by repeated 
wounds, received early in the action, as to be incapable of 
personal resistance. The comparatively small number of 
men, therefore, that survived on the upper decks, having no 
officer to head them, the British succeeded in securing com- 
plete possession before those from below could rally. Lieu- 
tenant Budd, who had commanded the first division below, 
being informed of the danger, hastened up with some men, 



1813.] THE LATE WAR^ 535 ' 

but was overpowered by superior numbers, and cut down 
immediately. Great embarrassment took place in conse- 
quence of the officers being unacquainted with the crew. In 
one instance, in particular, Lieutenant Cox, on mounting the 
deck, joined a party of the enemy, through mistake, and was 
made sensible of his error by their cutting at him with their 
sabres. 

While this scene of havoc and confusion was going on 
above. Captain Lawrence, who was lying in the ward-room 
in excruciating pain, hearing the firing cease, forgot the an- 
guish of his wounds ; having no officer near him, he ordered 
the surgeon to hasten on deck, and tell the officers to fight on 
to the last, and never to strike the colours ; adding, " they 
shall wave while I live." The fate of the battle, however, 
was decided. Finding all farther resistance vain, and a mere 
waste of life. Lieutenant Ludlow gave up the ship ; after 
which, he received a sabre wound in the head, from one of 
the Shannon's crew, which fractured his skull, and ultimately 
proved mortal. He was one of the most promising officers of 
his age in the service, highly esteemed for his professional 
talents, and beloved for the generous qualities that adorned 
his private character. 

Thus terminated one of the most remarkable combats on 
naval record. From the peculiar accidents that attended it, 
the battle was short, desperate, and bloody. So long as the 
cannonading continued, the Chesapeake is said to have clearly 
had the advantage ; and had the ships not run foul, it is pro- 
bable she would have captured the Shannon. Though con- 
siderably damaged in her upper works, and pierced with some 
shot-holes in her hull, yet she had sustained no injury to affect 
her safety ; whereas the Shannon had received several shots 
between wind and water, and, consequently, could not have 
sustained the action long. The havoc on both sides was 
dreadful ; but to the singular circumstance of having every 
officer on the upper deck either killed or wounded, early in 
t\m action, may chiefly be attributed the loss of the Chesa- 
peake. 

The two ships presented dismal spectacles after the battle. 



536 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 

Crowded with the wounded and the dying, they resembled 
floating hospitals, sending forth groans at every roll. The 
brave Broke lay delirious from a wound in the head, which 
he is said to have received while endeavouring to prevent the 
slaughter of some of our men who had surrendered. In his 
rational intervals, he always spoke in the highest terms of the 
courage and skill of Lawrence, and the " gallant and masterly 
style" in which he brought the Chesapeake into action. 

The wounds of Captain Lawrence rendered it impossible 
to remove him after the battle, and his cabin being very much 
shattered, he remained in the ward-room. Here he lay, at- 
tended by his own surgeon, and surrounded by his brave and 
suffering officers. He made no comment, nor indeed was he 
heard to utter a word, except to make such simple requests 
as his necessities required. In this way he lingered through 
four days, in extreme bodily pain, and then expired. 

His body was wrapped in the colours of his ship, and 
buried by the British at Halifax, with the honours of war. 
Thence it was removed by his friends to Salem, in Massachu- 
setts, where it received the most particular respect, and was 
again removed to the city of New York, where it was buried 
with the honours of war. 

At the time of his death, he was but thirty-two years old, 
nearly sixteen of which had been honourably expended in 
the service of his country. He was a disciplinarian of the 
highest order, producing perfect obedience and subordination 
without severity. His men became zealously devoted to him, 
and ready to do through affection what severity would have 
never compelled. He was scrupulously correct in his prin- 
ciples, delicate in his sense of honour; and to his extreme 
jealousy of reputation he fell a victim, in daring an ill-matched 
encounter, which prudence would have justified him in de- 
clining. In battle, where his lofty and commanding person 
made him conspicuous, the calm, collected courage, and ele- 
vated tranquillity which he maintained in the midst of peril, 
imparted a confidence to every bosom. In the hour of vic- 
tory he was moderate and unassuming ; towards the van- 
quished he was gentle, generous, and humane. 



1813.] THE LATE WAU. 537 



CHAPTER XII. 

Capture of the United States Sloop Argus— Carried to England, where her 
Commander died. 

" When sorrows come, they come not single spies, 
But in battalions I" — Hamlet. 

The intelligence of the capture of the Chesapeake was 
received in England with great rejoicing. The victory of 
Captain Broke was considered as establishing the maritime 
superiority of that nation, which preceding events had some- 
what shaken, and the honours showered upon that officer 
evinced the light in which it was viewed. The result of an- 
other engagement, which took place not long afterwards, 
tended to confirm this impression. The United States sloop 
of war Argus, of twenty guns, commanded by Captain Wil- 
liam Henry Allen, being on a cruise in the British channel, 
fell in with the British sloop of war Pelican, of somewhat 
superior force, which had been fitted out expressly for the 
purpose of engaging her. The action, which took place on 
the 14th of August, was maintained for an hour and a half 
with great ardour on both sides, when the captain and first- 
lieutenant of the Argus being severely wounded, and many 
of her seamen disabled, her rigging shot away, and the enemy 
about to board, her flag was struck by the remaining officers. 
She was carried into England, where her commander shortly 
afterwards died. He had been first-lieutenant of the United 
States at the capture of the Macedonian, and bore a high 
character in the naval service. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Capture of the Boxer by the Enterprise — Death of their respective Commanders 
— Capture of the Dominica by the Privateer Decatur — Cruise of the President. 

" The wounds he received, for his country contending, 
The hardships endured — shall they e'er be forgot 1" 

The tide of success appeared now to set in favour of the 

British ; but shortly after the capture of the Argus, an en- 
_ 



538 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



gagement took place which added fresh honour to the Ameri- 
can flag. The United States brig Enterprise, of sixteen guns, 
commanded by Lieutenant Burrows, sailed from Portsmouth 
on the 1st of September. On the 4th, a vessel of war was 
discovered, which stood for her, having four ensigns hoisted. 
After a warm action of forty minutes, the enemy ceased firing, 
and surrendered. She proved to be the British armed brig 
Boxer, of sixteen guns, commanded by Captain Blythe, who 
was killed early in the action. She was admirably prepared 
for the contest, and her colours were nailed to the mast pre- 
vious to the engagement. The gallant commander of the 
Enterprise received a mortal wound about the same time that 
his antagonist fell, but refused to quit the deck until the 
sword of the British commander was brought to him, when, 
clasping it in his hands, he exclaimed, " I die contented," and 
soon afterwards expired. The bodies of the two commanders 
were interred at Portland at the same time, with every mark 
of respect that can be shown to the remains of brave and 
honourable men. 

The private armed vessels of the United States continued, 
during this year, to harass the commerce of the enemy, and 
carried into every quarter of the globe proofs of American 
skill and enterprise. Perhaps no instance in the annals of 
national warfare can be pointed out of a more desperate ac- 
tion than that fought by the privateer Decatur, of seven guns 
and one hundred and three men, with the British government 
schooner Dominica, of fifteen guns and eighty-eight men. 
After a well-sustained action of two hours, the latter was 
carried by boarding. The combat was maintained on her 
deck for a considerable time, when her captain and most of 
her oflrtcers and crew being disabled, her colours were struck 
by the crew of the Decatur. It is proper to add, that the 
crew of the Dominica fought with uncommon bravery and 
firmness. Sixty men, and every officer, with the exception 
of the surgeon and one midshipman, were killed or wounded. 
The enterprise of Commodore Rodgers was displayed in a 
cruise of five months, in the frigate President, which termi- 
nated on the 26th of September, without any material sue- 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 539 

cess. The United States and Macedonian had lain in the 
harbour of New York until the beginning of May, without 
being able to get to sea. About that period they made an 
ineffectual attempt to pass the blockading squadron, in com- 
pany with the sloop of war Hornet. The vigilance of the 
enemy (whose superior force rendered any contest hopeless) 
obliged them to put into the port of New London, where 
they were compelled to continue during the remainder of the 
war. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Preparations on Lake Erie — Perry's gallant Conduct— His brilliant Victory — 
Importance of this Victory to America — Official Account of the Battle — Cooper's 
Account of it. 

" When Greek meets Greek, then comes the tug of war." 

" We have met the enemy, and they are ours." 

" Fill high the cup ; 
And let the kettle to the trumpet speak, 
The trumpet to the cannoneer without, 
The cannon to the heavens — the heaven to earth." 

During these occurrences on the sea-board, important pre- 
parations had been made for decisive measures to the west- 
ward, and the general attention was now turned, with great 
anxiety, towards the movements of the North-western army, 
and the fleet under command of Commodore Perry, on lake 
Erie. 

This anxiety, not long after, was, in a measure, dispelled 
by a decisive victory of the American fleet over that of the 
British, on lake Erie, achieved, after a long and desperate 
conflict, on the 10th of September. 

The necessity of possessing a strong force on lake Erie, 
had been strenuously urged to the government by General 
Hull, even before the declaration of war; and it was evident 
to the meanest apprehensions, that it would be difficult to 
retain the position at Detroit, and much more to attempt the 



540 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



invasion of Canada, with any prospect of success, while the 
enemy had command of its waters. There appears, never- 
theless, to have been a very censurable neglect on the part 
of the administration, in not taking measures sufficiently 
early to effect this purpose. The earnest representations of 
General Harrison, however, at length awakened them to a 
proper sense of its necessity. In the month of March, the 
building of two brigs and several schooners was commenced 
at the port of Erie, under the direction of Captain Perry of 
the navy, and continued with great activity until the 20th of 
July, when the enemy's squadron appeared off the town, with 
an apparent intention of attacking it ; but finding prepara- 
tions made for defence, soon afterwards retired. The equip- 
ment of the vessels being completed, they were launched on 
the 2d of August, and buoyed over the bar in presence of. 
and without molestation from the enemy, who then returned 
to Maiden, to await the completion of a large ship, then build- 
ing. Having received his complements of sailors, and being 
joined by a company of infantry and some volunteers, who 
acted as marines. Commodore Perry sailed in quest of the 
British squadron, which he found lying in the harbour of 
Maiden, augmented by the launching of their new vessel. 

On the morning of the 10th of September, the enemy's 
vessels were discovered standing out of the port of Maiden, 
with the wind in their favour. They consisted of — 

Guns. Howitzers. 

Ship Detroit 19 2 Com. Barclay. 

Queen Charlotte 17 .... 1 Capt. Finnis. 

Schr. Lady Prevost 13 .... 1 Lieut. Buchan. 

Brier Hunter 10 

Sloop Little Belt 3 

Chippewa 1 2 swivels . . 

In all 63 guns, 4 howitzers, and 2 swivels. The American 
squadron was composed of — 

guns. 
Brig Lawrence 20 Com. Perry. 

" Niagara 20 Capt. Elliott. 

" Caledonia 3 Lieut. Tumor. 

Schr. Ariel 4 

" Scorpion 2 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 541 

guns. 

Schr. Somers 2 .... 2 swivels. 

Sloop Trippe 1 

" Tigress 1 

" Porcupine 1 — — 

In all 54 guns 2 swivels. 

At ten o'clock, the wind changed, so as to give the latter 
the weather-gage. Commodore Perry then formed his line 
of battle, and bore down upon the enemy. At a few minutes 
before twelve, the action commenced by a heavy and well- 
directed fire upon the Lawrence, from the Detroit and Queen 
Charlotte, which she was unable to return, in consequence of 
possessing only carronades. The lightness of the wind pre- 
venting the remainder of the American squadron from getting 
up, she was compelled to sustain the fire of the enemy's ves- 
sels for upwards of two hours, when, having lost a great 
number of men, and most of her guns and rigging being dis- 
abled, it was evident she must soon surrender. The fate of 
the day appeared already decided, when Commodore Perry, 
with singular gallantry and enterprise, resolved upon a mea- 
sure which retrieved his doubtful fortunes. Leaving his ship, 
(the Lawrence,) he passed in an open boat to the Niagara, 
which a lucky increase of wind had enabled Captain Elliott 
to bring up. The latter officer now volunteered to carry the 
smaller vessels into action, while Commodore Perry, with the 
Niagara, bore up and passed through the enemy's line, pour- 
ing into the ships on each side a most destructive fire. The 
American schooners and gun-boats, having soon afterwards 
got within a suitable distance, opened a heavy and well- 
directed cannonade upon their opponents, and, after a short 
contest, the whole British squadron surrendered. 

The enemy, not having been able to take possession of the 
Lawrence, whose colours had been struck soon after Commo- 
dore Perry left her, she again hoisted them before the conclu- 
sion of the conflict. 

Never was a victory more complete, and more glorious to 
the victors, than this. The American vessels were inferior 
in force to their opponents ; the number of men on board the 
latter was greater ; the American officers had never witnessed 



2v 



542 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



the manoeuvring of a squadron, while the British commander 
had acquired experience under the eye of Lord Nelson ; and 
yet not one vessel of the enemy was left to bear the tidings 
of defeat. The surrender of the flag-ship of a squadron has 
in former engagements generally decided the fate of the battle ; 
here, although it made the force of the enemy superior by 
thirty-three guns, it only served to animate the Americans to 
new and more desperate exertions. The result of the en- 
gagement was attributed by the British commander to a defi- 
ciency of competent seamen, to the unprecedented loss of 
officers on board the Queen Charlotte and Detroit, and to the 
superior weight of metal on board the American vessels. 
The loss of men, however, on each side, was pretty nearly 
equal. Of the British, three officers and thirty-eight men 
were killed, and nine officers and eighty-five men wounded. 
Of the Americans, three officers and twenty -four men killed, 
and four officers and ninety-two men wounded. Among the 
wounded of the enemy, was Commodore BarcJay, who was 
compelled to quit the deck of his vessel. 

The following is the official account of the battle. Copy 
of a letter from Commodore Perry to the Secretary of the 
Navy. 

" U. S. Schooner Ariel, Put-in-Bay, 13th Sept., 1813. 
« SiRj — In my last I informed you that we had captured the 
enemy's fleet on this lake. I have now the honour to give 
you the most important particulars of the action. On the 
morning of the 10th inst., at sunrise, they were discovered 
from Put-in-Bay, where I lay at anchor with the squadron 
under my command. We got under weigh, the wind light at 
S. W., and stood for him. At 10 A. M., the wind hauled to 
S. E. and brought us to windward : formed the line and bore 
up. At 15 minutes before 12, the enemy commenced firing; 
at 5 minutes before 12, the action commenced on our part. 
Finding their fire very destructive, owing to their long guns, 
and its being mostly directed at the Lawrence, I made sail 
and directed the other vessels to follow, for the purpose of 
closing with the enemy. Every brace and bow-line being 
soon shot away, she became unmanageable, notwithstanding 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 543 



the great exertions of the sailing-master. In this situation, 
she sustained the action upwards of two hours within canis- 
ter distance, until every gun was rendered useless, and the 
greater part of her crew either killed or wounded. Finding 
she could no longer annoy the enemy, I left her in charge of 
Lieutenant Yarnall, who, I was convinced from the bravery 
already displayed by him, would do what would comport 
with the honour of the flag. At half-past two, the wind 
springing up, Captain Elliott was enabled to bring his vessel, 
the Niagara, gallantly into close action ; I immediately went 
on board of her, when he anticipated my wish by volunteer- 
ing to bring the schooners, which had been kept astern by 
the lightness of the wind, into close action. It was with un- 
speakable pain that I saw, soon after I got on board the Nia- 
gara, the flag of the Lawrence come down, although I was 
perfectly sensible that she had been defended to the last, and 
that to have continued to make a show of resistance would 
have been a wanton sacrifice of the remains of her brave 
crew. But the enemy was not able to take possession of her, 
and circumstances soon permitted her flag again to be hoisted. 
At 45 minutes past two, the signal was made for " close 
action." — The Niagara being very little injured, I determined 
to pass through the enemy's line, bore up and passed ahead 
of their two ships and a brig, giving a raking fire to them 
from the starboard guns, and to a large schooner and sloop, 
from the larboard side, at half pistol-shot distance. The 
smaller vessels at this time having got within grape and can- 
ister distance, under the direction of Captain Elliott, and 
keeping up a well-directed fire, the two ships, a brig, and a 
schooner surrendered, a schooner and a sloop making a vain 
attempt to escape. 

" Those officers and men who were immediately under my 
observation, evinced the greatest gallantry, and I have no 
doubt that all the others conducted themselves as became 
American officers and seamen. Lieutenant Yarnall, first of 
the Lawrence, although several times wounded, refused to 
quit the deck. Midshipman Forrest (doing duty as lieutenant) 
and sailing-master Taylor, were of great assistance to me. I 



544 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813' 

have great pain in stating to you the death of Lieutenant 
Brock, of the marines, and Midshipman Lamb, both of the 
Lawrence, and Midshipman John Clarke, of the Scorpion : 
they were valuable and promising officers. Mr. Hambleton, 
purser, who volunteered his services on deck, was severely 
wounded late in the action. Midshipmen Claxton and Swart- 
wout, of the Lawrence, were severely wounded. On board 
of the Niagara, Lieutenants Smith and Edwards, and Mid- 
shipman Webster, (doing duty as sailing-master,) behaved in 
a very handsome manner. Captain Brevoort, of the army, 
who acted as a volunteer in the capacity of a marine officer, 
on board of that vessel, is an excellent and brave officer, and 
with his musketry did great execution. Lieutenant Turner, 
commanding the Caledonia, brought that vessel into action in 
the most able manner, and is an officer that in all situations 
may be relied on. The Ariel, Lieutenant Packet, and Scor- 
pion, Sailing-master Champlin, were enabled to get early into 
action, and were of great service. Captain Elliott speaks in 
the highest terms of Magrath, purser, who had been de- 
spatched in a boat on service previous to my getting on board 
the Niagara ; and, being a seaman, since the action has ren- 
dered essential service in taking charge of one of the prizes. 
Of Captain Elliott, already so well known to the government, 
it would be almost superfluous to speak. In this action he 
evinced his characteristic bravery and judgment, and, since 
the close of the action, has given me the most able and essen- 
tial assistance. 

" I have the honour to enclose you a list of the killed and 
wounded, together with a statement of the relative force of 
the squadrons. The captain and first-lieutenant of the Queen 
Charlotte, and first-lieutenant of the Detroit, were killed. — 
Captain Barclay, senior officer, and the commander of the 
Lady Prevost, severely wounded. Their loss in killed and 
wounded I have not yet been able to ascertain ; it must, how- 
ever, have been very great. 

" Very respectfully, I have the honour to be, sir, your obe- 
dient servant, O. H. Perry. 

"The Hon. William Jones, Secr'y of the Navyy 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 545 

The following account of this battle by Mr. Cooper, which 
led to a libel-suit and so much litigation, in which the author 
sustained himself, must be interesting to the reader. It will 
instruct while it gratifies his curiosity after hearing so much 
from it ; and, as the author can have no objections to have it 
circulated, we give it entire. 

" The manner in which the service commenced on the up- 
per lakes, has been already mentioned, but it will connect the 
narrative to make a short recapitulation. It will be remem- 
bered that, late in the autumn of 1812, Lieutenant Elliott had 
been sent to the foot of Erie to contract for some schooners. 
He was soon after recalled to Ontario, and succeeded in com- 
mand by Lieutenant Angus. Not long after the landing at 
Erie, Mr. Angus returned to the sea-board, and Lieutenant 
Pettigrew, for a short time, was in command. In the course 
of the winter. Captain O. H. Perry, then a young master and 
commander at the head of the flotilla of gun-boats, at New- 
port, Rhode Island, finding no immediate prospect of getting 
to sea in a sloop of war, volunteered for the lake service. 
Captain Perry brought on with him a number of officers, and 
a few men, and Commodore Chauncey gladly availed himself 
of the presence of an officer of his rank, known spirit and 
zeal, to send him on the upper lakes, in command, where he 
arrived in the course of the winter. From this time, until 
the navigation opened, Captain Perry was actively employed, 
under all the embarrassments of his frontier position, in or- 
ganizing and creating a force, with which he might contend 
with the enemy for the mastery of those important waters. 
Two large brigs, to mount 20 guns each, were laid down at 
Presque Isle, and a few gun-vessels or schooners, were also 
commenced. The spring passed in procuring guns, sliot, and 
other supplies, and, as circumstances allowed, a draft of men 
would arrive from below, to aid in equipping the different 
vessels. As soon as the squadron of Commodore Chauncey 
appeared off the mouth of Niagara, Captain Perry, with 
some of his officers, went to join it, and the former was effi- 
ciently employed in superintending the disembarkation of the 
troops, as has been already related. The fall of fort George 

69 27* 



546 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



produced that of fort Erie, when the whole of the Niagara 
frontier came under the control of the American army. 

" Captain Perry now repaired to his own command, and 
with infinite labour he succeeded in getting the vessels that 
had so long been detained in the Niagara, by the enemy's 
batteries, out of the river. This important service was 
effected by the 12th of June, and preparations were imme- 
diately commenced for appearing on the lake. These vessels 
consisted of the brig Caledonia, (a prize,) and the schooners 
Catherine, Ohio, and Amelia, with the sloop Contractor. 
The Catherine was named the Somers, the Amelia the Ti- 
gress, and the Contractor the Trippe. At this time, the enemy 
had a cruising force, under the orders of Captain Finnis, 
which consisted of the Queen Charlotte, a ship of between 
three and four hundred tons, and mounting 17 guns ; the 
Lady Prevost, a fine warlike schooner, of about two hundred 
tons, that mounted 13 guns ; the brig Hunter, a vessel a little 
smaller, of 10 guns, and three or four lighter cruisers. He 
was also building, at Maiden, a ship of near five hundred 
tons measurement, that was to mount 19 guns, and which 
was subsequently called the Detroit. 

" Contradictory accounts having been given of the sizes of 
these vessels, the writer feels it due to himself to mention his 
authorities. At the Navy Department is an appraisement of 
the prizes taken on lake Erie, made by two impartial and ex- 
perienced captains, in conjunction with the celebrated builder 
Henry Eckford. With a view to compare the opinions of 
these gentlemen with those of others competent to judge, an 
officer, familiar with the vessels, now a captain, was desired 
to set down his recollections of the sizes of the six British 
vessels taken on lake Erie. In ' James's Naval Occurrences,' 
a work of no authority, certainly, in matters of opinion, is a 
table professing to contain the English statement of the same 
tonnage. As it is not improbable this document was derived 
from the public officers, we give the three as we found them. 

Appraisers. Am. Officer. James. 

Detroit near 500 tons near 500 305 

Queen Charlotte . .about 400 380 280 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 547 

Appraisers. Am. Officer. James. 

Lady Prevost 230 200 120 

Hunter 180 150 74 

Little Belt near 100 70 54 

Chippeway near 100 70 32 

1510 1370 865 

" It is proper to add, that the American officer consulted, 
knew nothing of the appraisement. The discrepancy between 
the American and English accounts may possibly be explained 
in the following manner. A vessel of war is measured for 
the purposes of estimating her cost, half the breadth of beam 
being assumed to be the depth of hold. The vessels on the 
lakes could scarcely be said to have holds ; the American 
brigs, which, on the ocean, would have drawn 16 feet of 
water, drawing not more than half as much on the lakes. 
Consequently, the carpenter's work was essentially less on 
these vessels, than on those built for the ocean. The object 
of the measurement being to calculate the cost, it is not im- 
probable that Mr. James has been furnished with an estimate 
of the tonnage by which the holds were actually measured, 
as is usual with vessels that have but one deck, a mode of 
calculating that would fully account for the difference. 

" It was near the end of June, before Captain Perry was 
ready to sail from the outlet of lake Erie, for Presque Isle. 
There being no intention to engage the enemy, and little 
dread of meeting him in so short a run, as she came in sight 
of her port each vessel made the best of her way. The ene- 
my had chosen this moment to look into Presque Isle, and 
both squadrons were in view from the shore at the same time, 
though, fortunately for the Americans, the English did not 
get a sight of them until they were too near the land to be 
intercepted. As the last vessel got in, the enemy hove in 
sight in the offing. 

" The two brigs laid down in the winter, under the direc- 
tions of Commodore Chauncey, had been launched towards 
the close of May, and were now in a state of forwardness. 
They were called the Lawrence and the Niagara. The 
schooners also were in the water, and Captain Perry, having 
all his vessels in one port, employed himself in getting them 



548 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 

ready for service, as fast as possible. Still various stores 
were wanting. There was a great deficiency of men, parti- 
cularly of seamen, and Captain Perry and Mr. D. Turner 
were, as yet, the only commissioned sea-officers on the lake. 
The latter, moreover, was quite young in years, as well as in 
rank. 

" Presque Isle, or, as the place is now called, Erie, was a 
good and spacious harbour ; but it had a bar on which there 
was less than seven feet of water. This bar, which had 
hitherto answered the purposes of a fortification, now offered 
a serious obstruction to getting the brigs on the lake. It lay 
about half a mile outside, and offered great advantages to the 
enemy, did he choose to profit by them, for attacking the 
Americans while employed in passing it. So sensible was 
Captain Perry of this disadvantage, that he adopted the ut- 
most secrecy in order to conceal his intentions, for it was 
known that the enemy had spies closely watching his move- 
ments. 

" Captain Barclay had lately superseded Captain Finnis in 
the command of the English force, and for near a week he 
had been blockading the American vessels, evidently with an 
intention to prevent their getting out, it being known that 
this bar could be crossed only in smooth water. On Friday, 
the 2d of August, he suddenly disappeared in the northern 
board. 

" The next day but one was Sunday, and the officers were 
ashore seeking the customary relaxation. Without any ap- 
pearances of unusual preparation, Captain Perry privately 
gave the order to repair on board the respective vessels and 
to drop down to the bar. This command was immediately 
obeyed; and at about two P. M., the Lawrence had been 
towed to the point where the deepest water was to be found. 
Her guns were whipped out, loaded and shotted as they were, 
and landed on the beach ; two large scows, prepared for the 
purpose, were hauled alongside, and the work of lifting the 
brig proceeded as fast as possible. Pieces of massive timber 
had been run through the forward and after ports, and when 
the scows were sunk to the water's edge, the ends of the tim- 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 549 

bers were blocked up, supported by these floating foundations. 
The plugs were now put in the scows, and the water was 
pumped out of them. By this process, the brig was lifted 
quite two feet, though, when she was got on the bar, it was 
found that she still drew too much water. It became neces- 
sary, in consequence, to come-up everything, to sink the 
scows anew, and to block up the timbers afresh. This duty 
occupied the night. 

" The schooners had crossed the bar, and were moored out- 
side, and preparations were hurriedly made to receive an 
attack. About eight A. M. the enemy re-appeared. At this 
time, the Lawrence was just passing the bar. A distant, 
short, and iiarmless cannonade ensued, though it had the 
effect to keep the enemy from running in. As soon as the 
Lawrence was in deep water, her guns were hoisted in, man- 
ned as fast as mounted, and the brig's broadside was sprung 
to bear on the English squadron. Fortunately, the Niagara 
crossed on the first trial ; and before night, all the vessels 
were as ready for service as circumstances would then allow. 
The enemy remained with his topsails to the mast half an 
hour, sullenly reconnoitring; he then filled, and went up the 
lake under a press of canvass. 

" This occurred on the 4th of August, and on the 5th, Cap- 
tain Perry sailed in quest of the enemy, having received on 
board a number of soldiers and volunteers. He ran oflT Long 
Point, and, sweeping the Canada shore for some distance, 
returned to Erie on the 8th. Taking in some supplies, he 
was about to proceed up the lake again, when intelligence 
arrived that the party sent from below, under Lieutenant 
Elliott, was at Cattaraugus, on its way to join the squadron. 
A vessel was immediately sent for this acceptable reinforce- 
ment. Shortly after its arrival, the commissions that had 
been made out some time previously, were received from be- 
low. By these changes, Mr. Elliott became a master and 
commander, and Messrs. Holdup, Packett, Yarnall, Edwards, 
and Conklin, were raised to the rank of lieutenants. Most 
of these gentlemen, however, had been acting for some months. 

" The American squadron now consisted of the Lawrence 



550 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



20, Captain Perry ; Niagara 20, Captain Elliott ; Caledonia 
3, Mr. M'Grath, a purser; Ariel 4, Lieutenant Packett; 
Trippe 1, Lieutenant Smith; Tigresg 1, Lieutenant Conklin; 
Somers 2, Mr. Almy; Scorpion 2, Mr. Champlin ; Ohio 1, 
Mr. Dobbins; Porcupine 1, Mr. Senatt. On the 18th of Au- 
gust, it sailed from Erie, and off Sandusky, a few days later, 
it chased, and was near capturing one of the enemy's schoo- 
ners. 

" The squadron cruised for several days, near the entrance 
of the strait, when Captain Perry was taken ill with the fever 
peculiar to these waters, and, shortly after, the vessels went 
into a harbour, among some islands that lay at no great dis- 
tance, which is called Put-in-Bay. 

" Here a few changes occurred, Mr. Smith going to the 
Niagara, and Mr. Holdup to the Trippe ; Mr. M'Grath went 
also to the Niagara, and Mr. Turner took command of the 
Caledonia. The Ohio was sent down the lake on duty. 

" While in port, on this occasion, Captain Perry contem- 
plated an attack on the enemy's vessels, by means of boats, 
and orders were issued, accordingly, to drill the people with 
muffled oars. 

" The squadron was still lying at Put-in-Bay on the morn- 
ing of the 10th of September, when, at day-light, the enemy's 
ships were discovered at the N. W. from the mast-head of 
the Lawrence. A signal was immediately made for all the 
vessels to get under way. The wind was light at S. W., and 
there was no mode of obtaining the weather-gage of the 
enemy, a very important measure with the peculiar arma- 
ment of the largest of the American vessels, but by beating 
round some small islands that lay in the way. It being thought 
there was not sufficient time for this, though the boats were 
got ahead to tow, a signal was about to be made for the ves- 
sels to wear, and to pass to leeward of the islands, with an 
intention of giving the enemy this great advantage, when the 
wind shifted to S. E. By this change, the American squadron 
was enabled to pass in the desired direction, and to gain the 
wind. When he perceived the American vessels clearing the 
land, or about ten A. M., the enemy hove-to, in a line, with 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 551 

his ship's heads to the southward and westward. At this 
time, the two squadrons were about three leagues asunder, 
the breeze being still at S. E., and sufficient to work with. 
After standing down, until about a league from the English, 
where a better view was got of the manner in which the 
enemy had formed his line, the leading vessels of his own 
squadrons being within hail. Captain Perry communicated a 
new order of attack. It had been expected that the Queen 
Charlotte, the second of the English vessels in regard to force, 
would be at the head of their line, and the Niagara had been 
destined to lead in, and to lie against her, Captain Perry hav- 
ing reserved for himself a commander's privilege of engaging 
the principal vessel of the opposing squadron ; but it now 
appearing that the anticipated arrangement had not been 
made, the plan was promptly altered. Captain Barclay had 
formed his with the Chippeway, Mr. Campbell, armed with 
one gun on a pivot, in the van ; the Detroit, his own vessel, 
next ; and the Hunter, Lieutenant Bignall ; Queen Charlotte, 
Captain Finnis ; Lady Prevost, Lieutenant-Commandant 
Buchan; and Little Belt astern, in the order named. To 
oppose this line, the Ariel, of four long twelves, was stationed 
in the van, and the Scorpion, of one long and one short gun on 
circles, next her. The Lawrence, Captain Perry, came next ; 
the two schooners just mentioned keeping on her weather- 
bow, having no quarters. The Caledonia, Lieutenant Turner, 
was the next astern, and the Niagara, Captain Elliott, was 
placed next to the Caledonia. These vessels were all up at 
the time, but the other light craft were more or less distant, 
each endeavouring to get into her berth. The order of battle 
for the remaining vessels, directed the Tigress to fall in astern 
of the Niagara, the Somers next, and the Porcupine and 
Trippe, in the order named. 

" In consequence of neither of the commanding officers 
having given his order of battle in his published official letter, 
it is difficult to obtain the stations of some of the smaller ves- 
sels. By some accounts, the Lady Prevost is said to have 
been between the Detroit and the Queen Charlotte, by others, 
the Hunter. The latter is believed to be the true statement. 



552 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 

On the other hand, some accounts place the Somers, and oth- 
ers the Tigress, next astern of the Niagara. The fact is im- 
material, but the account which seems to be best authenti- 
cated, has been chosen. 

" By this time the wind had got to be very light, but the 
leading vessels were all in their stations, and the remainder 
were endeavouring to get in as fast as possible. The Eng- 
lish vessels presented a very gallant array, and their appear- 
ance was beautiful and imposing. Their line was compact, 
with the heads of the vessels still to the southward and west- 
ward; their ensigns were just opening to the air; their ves- 
sels were freshly painted, and their canvass was new and 
perfect. The American line was more straggling. The order 
of battle required them to form within half a cable's-length 
of each other, but the schooners astern could not close with 
the vessels ahead, which sailed faster, and had more light 
canvass, until some considerable time had elapsed. 

"A few minutes before twelve, the Detroit threw a twenty- 
four pound shot at the Lawrence, then on her weather-quarter, 
distant between one and two miles. Captain Perry now 
passed an order by trumpet, through the vessels astern, for 
the line to close to the prescribed order, and soon after, the 
Scorpion was hailed, and directed to begin with her long gun. 
At this moment, the American vessels in line were edging 
down upon the English, those in front being necessarily 
nearer to the enemy than those more astern, with the excep- 
tion of the Ariel and Scorpion, which two schooners had 
been ordered to keep well to windward of the Lawrence. 
As the Detroit had an armament of long guns, Captain Bar- 
clay manifested his judgment in commencing the action in 
this manner, and in a short time, the firing between that ship, 
the Lawrence, and the two schooners at the head of the Ame- 
rican line, got to be very animated. The Lawrence now 
showed a signal for the squadron to close, each vessel in her 
station, as previously designated. A few minutes later the 
vessels astern began to fire, and the action became general 
but distant. The Lawrence, however, appeared to be the 
principal aim of the enemy, and before the firing had lasted 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 553 



any material time, the Detroit, Hunter, and Queen Charlotte, 
were directing most of their efforts against her. The Ame- 
rican brig endeavoured to close, and did succeed in getting 
within reach of canister, though not without suffering mate- 
rially, as she fanned down upon the enemy. At this time, 
the support of the schooners ahead, which were well com- 
manded and fought, was of the greatest moment to her, for 
.the vessels astern, though in the line, could be of little use in 
diverting the fire, on account of their positions and the dis- 
tance. After the firing had lasted some time, the Niagara 
hailed the Caledonia, and directed the latter to make room 
for the former to pass ahead. Mr. Turner put his helm up 
in the most dashing manner, and continued to near the enemy, 
until he was closer to his line, perhaps, than the commanding 
vessel, keeping up as warm a fire as his small armament 
would allow. The Niagara now became the vessel next astern 
of the Lawrence. 

" The cannonade had the usual effect of deadening the 
wind, and for two hours there was very little air. During 
all this time, the weight of the enemy's fire was directed 
against the Lawrence ; the Queen Charlotte, having filled, 
passed the Hunter, and closed with the Detroit, where she 
kept up a destructive cannonading on this devoted vessel. 
These united attacks nearly dismantled the American brig, 
besides producing great slaughter on board her. At the end 
of two hours and a half, agreeably to the report of Captain 
Perry, the enemy having filled, and the wind increasing, the 
two squadrons drew slowly ahead, the Lawrence necessarily 
falling astern and partially out of the combat. At this mo- 
ment, the Niagara passed to the southward and westward, a 
short distance to windward of the Lawrence, steering for the 
head of the enemy's line, and the Caledonia followed to lee- 
ward. 

" The vessels astern had not been idle, but, by dint of 
sweeping and sailing, they had all got within reach of their 
guns, and had been gradually closing, though not in the pre- 
scribed order. The rear of the line would seem to have in- 
clined down towards the enemy, bringing the Trippe, Lieu- 

70 2^ 



554 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



tenant Holdup, so near the Caledonia, that the latter sent a 
boat to her for a supply of cartridges. 

'' Captain Perry, finding himself in a vessel that had been 
rendered nearly useless by the injuries she had received, and 
which was dropping out of the combat, got into his boat and 
pulled after the Niagara, on board of which vessel he arrived 
at about half-past two. Soon after, the colours of the Law- 
rence were hauled down, that vessel being literally a wreck. 
"After a short consultation between Captains Perry and 
Elliott, the latter volunteered to take the boat of the former, 
and to proceed and bring the small vessels astern, which were 
already briskly engaged, into still closer action. This propo- 
sal being accepted, Captain Elliott pulled down the line, pass- 
ing within hail of all the small vessels astern, directing them 
to close within half pistol-shot of the enemy, and to throw 
in grape and canister, as soon as they could get the desired 
positions. He then repaired on board the Somers, and took 
charge of that schooner in person. 

" When the enemy saw the colours of the Lawrence come 
down, he confidently believed that he had gained the day. 
His men appeared over the bulwarks of the different vessels 
and gave three cheers. For a few minutes, indeed, there ap- 
pears to have been, as if by common consent, a general ces- 
sation in the firing, during which both parties were preparing 
for a desperate and final effort. The wind had freshened, 
and the position of the Niagara, which brig was now abeam 
of the leading English vessel, was commanding, while the 
o-un-vessels astern, in consequence of the increasing breeze, 
were enabled to close very fast. 

" At forty-five minutes past two, or when time had been 
given to the gun-vessels to receive the order mentioned. Cap- 
tain Perry showed the signal from the Niagara, for close ac- 
tion, and immediately bore up, under his foresail, to|)sails, 
and topgallant-sail. As the American vessels hoisted their 
answering flags, this order was received with three cheers, 
and it was obeyed with alacrity and spirit. The enemy now 
attempted to wear round, to get fresh broadsides to bear, in 
doing which, his line got into confusion, and the two ships 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 555 

for a short time, were foul of each other, while the Lady Pre- 
vost had so far shifted her berth as to be both to the west- 
ward and to the leeward of the Detroit. At this critical mo- 
ment, the Niagara came steadily down, within half pistol-shot 
of the enemy, standing between the Chippeway and Lady 
Prevost, on one side, and the Detroit, Queen Charlotte, and 
Hunter, on the other. In passing, she poured in her broad- 
sides, starboard and larboard, ranged ahead of the ships, 
luffed athwart their bows, and continued delivering a close 
and deadly fire. The shrieks from the Detroit, proclaimed 
that the tide of battle had turned. At the same moment, the 
gun-vessels and Caledonia were throwing in close discharges 
of grape and canister astern. A conflict so fearfully close, 
and so deadly, was necessarily short. In fifteen or twenty 
minutes after the Niagara bore up, a hail was passed among 
the small vessels, to say that the enemy had struck, and an 
officer of the Queen Charlotte appeared on the taffrail of that 
ship, waving a white handkerchief, bent to a boarding-pike. 

"As soon as the smoke cleared away, the two squadrons 
were found partly intermingled. The Niagara lay to lee- 
ward of the Detroit, Queen Charlotte, and Hunter, and the 
Caledonia, with one or two of the gun-vessels, was between 
the latter and the Lady Prevost. On board the Niagara, the 
signal for close action was still aboard, while the small ves- 
sels were sternly wearing their answering flags. The Little 
Belt and Chippeway were endeavouring to escape to leeward, 
but they were shortly after brought-to by the Scorpion and 
Trippe; while the Lawrence was lying astern and to wind- 
ward, with the American colours again flying. The battle 
had commenced about noon, and it terminated at three, with 
the exception of a few shots fired at the two vessels that at- 
tempted to escape, which were not overtaken until an hour 
later. 

" In this decisive action, so far as their people were con- 
cerned, the two squadrons suffered in nearly an equal degree, 
the manner in which the Lawrence was cut up, being almost 
without an example in naval warfare. It is understood that 
when Captain Perry left her, she had but one gun on her 



556 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



Starboard side, or that on which she was engaged, which 
could be used, and that gallant officer is said to have aided 
in firing it in person, the last time it was discharged. Of her 
crew twenty-two were killed, and sixty-one were wounded, 
most of the latter severely. When Captain Perry left her, 
taking with him four of her people, there remained on board 
but fifteen sound men. The Niagara had two killed, and 
twenty-five wounded, or about one-fourth of all at quarters. 
The other vessels suffered relatively less. The Caledonia, 
Lieutenant Turner, though carried into the hottest of the 
action, and entirely without quarters, had three men wounded; 
the Trippe, Lieutenant Holdup, (now Captain Holdup Ste- 
vens,) which, for some time, was quite as closely engaged, 
and was equally without quarters, had two men wounded ; 
the Somers, Mr. Almy, the same ; the Ariel, Lieutenant 
Packett, had one man killed, and three wounded ; the Scor- 
pion, Mr. Champlin, had two killed, one of whom was a mid- 
shipman ; the Tigress, Lieutenant Conklin, and Porcupine, 
Mr. Senatt, had no one hurt. The total loss of the squadron 
was twenty-seven killed, and ninety-six wounded, or altoge- 
ther, one hundred and twenty-three ; of whom twelve were 
quarter-deck officers. More than a hundred men were unfit 
for duty, among the diflferent vessels, previously to the action, 
cholera morbus and dysentery prevailing in the squadron. 
Captain Perry himself, was labouring under debility, from a 
recent attack of the lake fever, and could hardly be said to 
be in a proper condition for service, when he met the enemy, 
a circumstance that greatly enhances the estimate of his per- 
sonal exertions on ' this memorable occasion. Among the 
Americans slain were Lieutenant Brooks, the commanding 
marine officer, and Messrs. Lamb and Clarke, midshipmen ; 
and among the wounded, Messrs. Yarnall and Forrest, the 
first and second-lieutenants of the Lawrence, Mr. Taylor, her 
master, and Messrs. Swartwout and Claxton, two of her mid- 
shipmen. Mr. Edwards, secon4-lieutenant of the Niagara, 
and Mr. Cummings, one of her midshipmen, were also 
wounded. 

" For two hours, the weight of the enemy's fire had been 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 557 



thrown into the Lawrence; and the water being perfectly 
smooth, his long guns had committed great havoc, before the 
carronades of the American vessels could be made available. 
For much of this period, it is believed that the eflbrts of the 
enemy were little diverted, except by the Hre of the two lead- 
ing schooners, a gun of one of which (the Ariel) had early 
bursted, the two long guns of the brigs, and the two long 
guns of the Caledonia. Although the enemy undoubtedly 
suffered by this fire, it was not directed at a single object, as 
was the case with that of the English, who appeared to think 
that by destroying the American commanding vessel, they 
would conquer. It is true that carronades were used on both 
sides, at an earlier stage of the action than that mentioned, 
but there is good reason for thinking that they did but little 
execution for the first hour. When they did tell, the Law- 
rence, the vessel nearest to the enemy, if the Caledonia be 
excepted, necessarily became their object, and, by this time, 
the efficiency of her own battery was much lessened. As a 
consequence of these peculiar circumstances, her starboard 
bulwarks were nearly beaten in ; and even her larboard were 
greatly injured, many of the enemy's heavy shot passing 
through both sides ; while every gun was finally disabled in 
the batteries fought. Although much has been justly said of 
the manner in which the Bon Homme Richard, and the Essex 
were injured, neither of these ships suffered, relatively, in a 
degree proportioned to the Lawrence. Distinguished as were 
the two former vessels, for the indomitable resolution with 
which they withstood the destructive fire directed against 
them, it did not surpass that manifested on board the latter ; 
and it ought to be mentioned, that throughout the whole of 
this trying day, her people, who had been so short a time act- 
ing together, manifested a steadiness and a discipline worthy 
of veterans. 

"Although the Niagara suffered in a much less degree, 
twenty-seven men killed and wounded, in a ship's company 
that mustered little more than one hundred souls at quarters, 
under ordinary circumstances, would be thought a large pro- 
portion. Neither the Niagara nor any of the smaller vessels 



558 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



were injured in an unusual manner in their hulls, spars, and 
sails, the enemy having expended so much of his efforts against 
the Lawrence, and being so soon silenced when that brig and 
the gun-vessels got their raking positions, at the close of the 
conflict. 

" The injuries sustained by the English were more divided, 
but were necessarily great. According to the official report 
of Captain Barclay, his vessels lost forty-one killed, and 
ninety-four wounded, making a total of one hundred and 
thirty-five, including twelve officers, the precise number lost 
by the Americans. No report has been published, in which 
the loss of the respective vessels was given, but the Detroit 
had her first-lieutenant killed, and her commander. Captain 
Barclay, with her purser, wounded. Captain Finnis, of the 
Queen Charlotte, was also slain, and her first-lieutenant was 
wounded. The commanding officer and first-lieutenant of the 
Lady Prevost were among the wounded, as were the com- 
manding officers of the Hunter and Chippeway. All the ves- 
sels were a good deal injured in their sails and hulls ; the 
Queen Charlotte suffering most in proportion. Both the De- 
troit and Queen Charlotte, however, rolled the masts out of 
them, at anchor at Put-in-Bay, in a gale of wind, two days 
after the action. 

'* It is not easy to make a just comparison between the 
forces of the hostile squadrons, on this occasion. In certain 
situations the Americans would have been materially supe- 
rior, while in others the enemy might possess the advantage 
in perhaps an equal degree. In the circumstances under 
which the action was actually fought, the peculiar advan- 
tages and disadvantages were nearly equalized, the lightness 
of the wind preventing either of the two largest of the Ame- 
rican vessels from profiting by its peculiar mode of efficiency, 
until quite near the close of the engagement, and particularly 
favouring the armament of the Detroit ; while the smoothness 
of the water rendered the light vessels of the Americans very 
destructive, as soon as they could be got within a proper 
range. The Detroit has been represented, on good authority, 
to have been both a heavier and stronger ship than either of 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 559 



the American brigs, and the Queen Charlotte proved to be a 
much finer vessel than had been expected ; while the Lady 
Prevost was found to be a large, warlike schooner. It was 
perhaps unfortunate for the enemy, that the armaments of the 
two last were not available under the circumstances which 
rendered the Detroit so efficient, as it destroyed the unity of 
his efforts. In short, the battle, for near half its duration, 
appears to have been fought, so far as efficiency was con- 
cerned, by the long guns of the two squadrons. This was 
particularly favourable to the Detroit and to the American 
gun-vessels ; while the latter fought under the advantages of 
smooth water, and the disadvantages of having no quarters. 
The sides of the Detroit, which were unusually stout, were 
filled with shot that did not penetrate. The larboard side of 
the Detroit is stated to have had so many shot sticking in it, 
and so many mere indentations, that doubts have been sug- 
gested as to the quality of the American powder. It is pro- 
bable, however, the circumstance arose from the distance, 
which, for a long time, was not within fair carronade range, 
especially with grape, or canister, over round shot. 

" In the number of men at quarters, there could have been 
no great disparity in the two squadrons. ]Mr. Yarnall, the 
first-lieutenant of the Lawrence, testified before a court of 
inquiry, in 1815, that the brig to which he belonged had but 
' one hundred and thirty-one men and boys, of every descrip- 
tion' on board her, and that of these but one hundred and 
three were fit for duty in the action. The Niagara was nearly 
in the same state. A part of the crews of all the vessels be- 
longed to the militia. Indeed, without a large proportion of 
volunteers from the army, the battle could not have been 
fought. The British were no better off, having a considerable 
proportion of soldiers on board their vessels, though men of 
that description were probably as efficient in smooth water, 
and under the actual circumstances, as ordinary sailors. 
Stress was laid, at the time, on the fact that a portion of the 
British crews were provincials, but the history of this conti- 
nent is filled with instances in which men of that character 
have gained battles, which went to increase the renown of 



560 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



the mother country, without obtaining any credit for it. The 
hardy frontier men of the American lakes are as able to en- 
dure fatigue, as ready to engage, and as constant in battle, as 
the seamen of any marine in the world. They merely require 
good leaders, and these the English appear to have possessed 
in Captain Barclay and his assistants. 

" Captain Perry, in his report of the action, eulogised the 
conduct of his second in command. Captain Elliott, that of 
Mr. Turner, who commanded the Caledonia, and that of the 
officers of his own vessel. He also commended the officers 
of the Niagara, Mr. Packett of the Ariel, and Mr. Champlin 
of the Scorpion. It is now believed that the omission of the 
names of the commanders of the gun- vessels astern, was acci- 
dental. It would seem that these vessels, in general, were 
conducted with great gallantry. Towards the close of the 
action, indeed, the Caledonia, and some of the gun-vessels 
would appear to have been handled with a boldness, consi- 
dering their total want of quarters, bordering on temerity. 
They are known to have been within hail of the enemy at 
the moment he struck, and to have been hailed by him. The 
grape and canister thrown by the Niagara and the schooners, 
during the last ten minutes of the battle, and which missed 
the enemy, rattled through the spars of the friendly vessels, 
as they laid opposite to each other, raking the English ahead 
and astern. 

" Captain Perry was criticised, at the time, for the manner 
in which he had brought his squadrons into action, it being 
thought he should have waited until his line was more com- 
pactly formed, and his small vessels could have closed. It 
has been said, that ' an officer seldom went into action worse, 
or got out of it better.' Truth is too often made the sacrifice 
of antithesis. The mode of attack appears to have been 
deemed by the enemy judicious, an opinion that speaks in its 
favour. The lightness of the wind,. in edging down, was the 
only circumstance that was particularly adverse to the Ame- 
rican vessels, but its total failure could not have been fore- 
seen. The shortness of the distances on the lake rendered 
escape so easy, when an officer was disposed to avoid a battle, 



|j7" = ^ • — = 

1813.] THE LATE WAR. 561 

that no commander, who desired an action, would have been 
pardonable for permitting a delay on such a plea. The line 
of battle was highly judicious, the manner in which tlie Law- 
rence was supported by the Ariel and Scorpion being simple and 
ingenious. By steering for the head of the enemy's line, the 
latter was prevented from gaining the wind by tacking, and 
when Captain Elliott imitated this manoeuvre in the Niagara, 
the American squadron had a very commanding position, of 
which Captain Perry promptly availed himself. In a word, 
the American commander appears to have laid his plan with 
skill and judgment, and, in all in which it was frustrated, it 
would seem to have been the effect of accident. There has 
never been but one opmion of the manner in which he re- 
deemed his error, even admitting that a fault was made at 
the outset; the united movements of the Niagara and of the 
small vessels at the close of the action, having been as judi- 
cious as they were gallant and decisive. The personal de- 
portment of Captain Perry, throughout the day, was worthy 
of all praise. He did not quit his own vessel, when she be- 
came useless, to retire from the battle, but to gain it ; an end 
that was fully obtained, and which resulted in a triumph. A 
popular opinion, which is too apt to confound distinctions in 
such matters, usually attaches the idea of more gallantry to 
the mere act of passing in a boat from one vessel to another, 
during an action, than in fighting on a vessel's deck. This 
was the least of Perry's merits. Captain Elliott was much 
longer in the same boat, and passed nearly through the whole 
line twice ; and Mr. M'Grath had left the Niagara for one of 
the other vessels, in quest of shot, before Captain Perry quit- 
ted the Lawrence. A boat also passed twice, if not three 
times, from the Caledonia to the Trippe in the height of the 
engagement, and others, quite likely, were sent from vessel to 
vessel. Captain Perry's merit was an indomitable resolution 
not to be conquered, and the manner in which he sought new 
modes of victory, when the old ones failed him. The position 
taken by the Niagara, at the close of the affair, the fact that 
he sought the best means of repairing his loss, and the motive 
with which he passed from vessel to vessel, constitute his 



562 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 

claims to admiration. There was, no doubt, a personal risk 
in all the boats, but there was personal risk everywhere on 
such an occasion. 

" The British vessels appear to have been gallantly fought, 
and were surrendered only when the battle was hopelessly 
lost. The fall of their different commanders was materially 
against them, though it is not probable the day could have 
been recovered after the Niagara gained the head of their line 
and the gun-vessels had closed. If the enemy made an error, 
it was in not tacking when he attempted to wear, but it is 
quite probable that the condition of his vessels did not admit 
of the former manoeuvre. There was an instant when the 
enemy believed himself the conqueror, and a few minutes 
even, when the Americans doubted, though they never de- 
spaired; but a moment sufficed to change their feelings, 
teaching the successful the fickleness of fortune, and admon- 
ishing the depressed of the virtue of perseverance. 

" For his conduct in this battle, Captain Perry received a 
gold medal from Congress. Captain Elliott also received a 
gold medal. Rewards were bestowed on the officers and men 
generally, and the nation has long considered this action one 
of its proudest achievements on the water. 

" The results of the victory were instantaneous and of high 
importance. The four smallest of the prizes were fitted as 
transports, and, the Lawrence excepted, the American squad- 
ron was employed in the same duty. The English had eva- 
cuated Detroit, and with it Michigan, and on the 23d of Sep- 
tember, the squadron conveyed a body of 1200 men to the 
vicinity of Maiden, in Upper Canada, of which place they 
took possession; and on the 27th, Captain Perry ascended to 
Detroit in the Ariel, and re-occupied that town, in conjunc- 
tion with the army. A day or two later. Captain Elliott, 
with the Niagara, Lady Prevost, Scorpion, and Tigress, went 
into Lake St. Clair, to cut off the enemy's baggage. On the 
2d of October, a part of the vessels assembled at the mouth 
of the Thames, with stores for the army, and, as the latter 
advanced. Captain Elliott ascended the stream, with the 
Scorpion, Porcupine, and Tigress, until he reached a point 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 563 



where the banks of the river rendered it too hazardous to fo 

o 

any further, by exposing the vessels to the fire of the Indians. 
The battle of the Moravian Towns was fought on the 5th of 
the same month, when the savages received a severe rebuke, 
and nearly the whole of the right wing of the British army 
in the Canadas, laid down their arms on the field, under a 
charge of the American mounted volunteers. After this suc- 
cess, which placed most of the upper part of the province in 
the hands of the conquerors, the vessels were employed in 
bringing away the ammunition and other captured stores. 
October 18th, General Harrison and Captain Perry, the latter 
of whom had been present at the battle on shore, issued a 
joint proclamation, for the better government of the con- 
quered territory, assuring to the people their ancient laws 
and usages, and the rights of property. 

" On the 23d of October, the squadron transported the 
army of General Harrison to Buffalo, and on the 25th, Cap- 
tain Perry resigned the command of the upper lakes to Cap- 
tain Elliottj repairing himself to the sea-board. November 
29th, this gallant and successful officer received the commis- 
sion of a captain, which was dated on the day of the victory, 
and soon after he was appointed to the command of the Java 
44, a new frigate, then fitting for sea at Baltimore. There is 
a letter on file in the Navy Department, in which Captain 
Perry, who had only been a commander about a year, ex- 
presses some doubts of the propriety of accepting this rank 
over the heads of his seniors, and his readiness to yield to 
their claims." 



564 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



CHAPTER XV. 

General Harrison directs his Forces against Detroit and Maiden, in possession 
of the inhuman Proctor — The latter retreats, burning Maiden — Rapid Pursuit of 
the Americans — Colonel Johnson engages the Enemy — Achieves a glorious Vic- 
tory — Exposes himself to all the Dangers of the Field — Kills Tecumseh — Is car- 
ried from the Battle Ground covered with Wounds — Detroit falls into the Hands 
of the Americans. 

" There was a speedy gathering then, 
Of fiery youths and fearless men, 

And mettled steeds ; 
Ne'er had fair Elkhorn's bloody shore 
Beheld such gallant host before. 

So fit for daring deeds ; 
Here was th' appointed rendezvous — 
And one by one, and two by two, 
Brave spirits, they came rushing in : 
And when they saw what strife had been, 
And stood where white men's precious blood 
Had flow'd, and stain'd that gentle flood. 
Each took that oath of vengeance dread 
Late utter'd on the Indian's head." 

After the victory just described, the Americans were 
masters of Lake Erie, but Detroit and Maiden were in pos- 
session of the British general. Proctor. Against these. Gene- 
ral Harrison, commander of the North- Western army, now 
resolved to direct his forces. 

Colonel Johnson, with a body of Kentuckians, was de- 
spatched against Detroit. General Harrison with his troops 
repaired on board the fleet, and the same day reached Mai- 
den. The British general, however, destroyed Maiden, and 
retired with his forces. 

Finding Maiden destroyed, Harrison next determined to 
proceed in pursuit of Proctor. On the 2d of October, with 
about two thousand five hundred men, selected for the pur- 
pose, he commenced a rapid march, and, on the 5tii, reached 
the place where the enemy had encamped the night before. 
Colonel Johnson, who had joined General Harrison, was sent 
forward to reconnoitre the enemy, and soon returned with 



L 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 565 

the information that they had made a stand a few miles dis- 
tant, and were ready for action. 

The American troops were now formed in order of battle. 
The armies engaged, and, for a time, the strife raged with 
fury. Providence, however, gave to the Americans a deci- 
sive victory, and Detroit fell into their hands. 

In this engagement, the loss of the British was nineteen 
regulars killed, fifty wounded, and about six hundred prison- 
ers. The Indians left one hundred and twenty on the field. 
The loss of the Americans did not exceed fifty. 

In this battle were engaged one thousand two hundred or 
one thousand five hundred Indians, led on by Tecumseh, a 
savage warrior, than whom the annals of history can scarcely 
boast a greater. Since the defeat of Harmer he had been in 
almost every engagement with the whites. On the opening 
of the late war, he visited various tribes, and, by his elo- 
quence and influence, roused his countrymen to arms against 
the United States. 

In addition to the above, we would give the following ex- 
cellent description of this battle, setting forth the extraordi- 
nary heroism of Colonel Johnson in its true light, while the 
reader gets a very clear idea of the whole operations : 

" The number of British regulars under General Proctor 
could not then be ascertained, nor the number of Indians who 
acted with them ; but it was evident that the American force, 
under General Harrison and Governor Shelby, consisting of 
part of a regiment of regulars, and principally of Kentucky 
volunteer militia, was greater than that of the enemy. The 
British and Indians, however, were retreating into their own 
country, where their numbers were continually augmenting; 
and without the aid of mounted men it was impossible to 
bring them to battle. To effect this object. Colonel Johnson, 
with his reconnoitring party, pressed continually upon them, 
till they were forced to make a stand. From a videt, whom 
he made a prisoner at that fortunate moment, and whom he 
accused of being a spy, but promised to save on the condi- 
tion of his giving a faithful account of the numbers and posi- 
tion of the enemy, he learned that the British regulars, be- 

__ 



566 THE ARMY AND KAVY. [1813. 



tween seven and eight hundred in number, were drawn up in 
a line from the river Thames on their left to a narrow swamp, 
impassable except at particular points, running parallel with 
the river at a distance of nearly a hundred yards from its 
margin; that, on the right of the regulars, west of this 
swamp, were lying in ambush about fifteen hundred Indians, 
under the command of that celebrated Indian warrior. Gene- 
ral Tecumseh. Thus, advantageously posted, it appeared 
evidently the design of the enemy, if the mounted regiment 
should attack and force them to retreat, for the Indians to 
fall upon their rear and cut them off from the main army, 
which was three or four miles back. Colonel Johnson lost no 
time in communicating to General Harrison the information 
he had thus obtained. The General, confiding in the valour 
of the mounted regiment to sustain the combat till the whole 
army could be brought up, gave immediate orders for the 
regiment to divide, and at the same moment charge the regu- 
lars on horseback, and the Indians in their own manner of 
warfare. Never was an order more wisely given, or more 
perfectly executed. Satisfied, from the many trials which 
had been made in the training of the regiment to this kind of 
exercise, they would succeed in this novel method of charg- 
ing, and believing that no other expedient would be effectual 
to prevent a retreat before the whole force could be brought 
to bear upon the enemy, and at the same time defeat his ob- 
ject of bringing the Indians upon their rear, the order for a 
simultaneous attack, and the manner in which it was exe- 
cuted, reflects immortal honour upon the general. 

" In obedience to this order. Colonel Johnson divided his 
regiment. Finding a point at which he could pass the swamp, 
he, with one-half, moved on to attack the Indians, leaving his 
brother, Lieutenant-Colonel James Johnson, with the other 
half, to lead the charge against the regulars ; and, that both 
might be simultaneous, the sound of a trumpet was to an- 
nounce to the lieutenant-colonel the moment when the colonel 
was ready for the conflict. The battalion under the lieute- 
nant-colonel moved regularly on till within about a hundred 
yards' distance of General Proctor's regulars, where they 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 567 



waited the signal for attack. To draw from the enemy their 
fire, Major Suggett, at the head of about a hundred men, dis- 
mounted and advanced within about forty yards of the enemy, 
giving orders that when the trumpet from beyond the swamp 
should sound, each man should deliberately present and fire 
at the enemy. This order was strictly obeyed, and the fire 
was most effectual. It drew from the enemy a hasty fire, 
which proved perfectly harmless. The charge was instanta- 
neously made by the mounted battalion, moving in full speed 
and with a universal shout, which carried consternation and 
dismay through all the ranks of the enemy, breaking through 
his line, and proving very destructive upon his rear. General 
Proctor, and a few dragoons, made their escape by flight, and 
all the remainder of his army surrendered. This was effected 
with a force far inferior, without the loss of a single man. 
The charge was led by the intrepid, the persevering Lieute- 
nant-Colonel James Johnson, whom no dangers could dismay, 
no obstacles discourage ; and the men whom he commanded 
were worthy of such a leader. 

" The task of Colonel Richard M. Johnson was still more 
hazardous ; for he had Tecumseh for his combatant, with a 
force three times more numerous than his own. As he ad- 
vanced against the Indians, who, according to their custom, 
were concealed from view by lying in the grass and bushes, 
and behind trees, he selected twenty men, with whom he ad- 
vanced a few rods in front of the main body, to bring on the 
battle without exposing the whole to the first fire of the In- 
dians. While thus advancing, they received the fire of their 
savage enemies, and nineteen of the twenty fell, leaving but 
one man of that number, besides the colonel, to pursue the 
charge. This shot brought the Indians from their ambush. 
He immediately ordered his men to dismount and advance to 
combat. The order was promptly obeyed ; the colonel only 
remained mounted. A dreadful conflict ensued. In the midst 
of this scene of slaughter, the colonel, still moving forward 
into the midst of the Indians, observed one who was evidently 
a commander of no common order. His gallantry was unri- 
valled, and his presence inspired a confidence among his fol- 



568 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



lowers, equal to what might have been expected from an 
Alexander. He was a rallying point for the Indians, and 
where he stood they were impregnable. Colonel Johnson did 
not know the man; but observing his intrepidity, and the 
effect which his example had upon the others, and knowing 
the great superiority of their numbers, he considered it ne- 
cessary to despatch him in order to secure the victory. The 
colonel had already received four wounds, and was greatly 
weakened by the loss of blood. His horse also had been so 
wounded as to be unable to move faster than a walk. He 
could not approach the chief in a right line, on account of the 
trunk of a very large tree which was lying before him. He 
therefore rode round the head of the tree, which was at his 
right, and turning his horse directly towards the chief, ad- 
vanced upon him. At the distance of a few yards, the colo- 
nel's horse stumbled, but, providentially, did not entirely fall. 
This gave the Indian the first notice of his approach ; who 
instantly levelled his rifle at the colonel, and gave him an- 
other wound, the severest which he received in the battle. 
He did not however fall, but continued his movement towards 
the Indian, till he came so near that the Indian was raising a 
tomahawk to strike him down. The colonel had a pistol in 
his right hand, charged with a ball and three buckshot, which 
he had held against his thigh, so that the Indian had not dis- 
covered it. This chief was arrayed in the habiliments of 
war, clad in the richest savage attire, and his face painted 
with alternate circular lines of black and red from the eye 
downward, which increased the natural ferocity of his savage 
countenance, and, apparently indifferent to every danger 
which awaited him, seemed confident of his victim ; and, as 
he raised his tomahawk, with a fierce look of malicious plea- 
sure, 

' Grinn'd horribly a ghastly smile.' 

At this moment, the colonel raised his pistol, and discharging 
its contents into the breast of the Indian chief, laid him dead 
upon the spot. The Indians near him, filled with consterna- 
tion on seeing their commander fall, raised a horrid yell and 
instantly fled. The colonel, covered with wounds, twenty- 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 569 



five balls having been shot into him, his clothes and his horse, 
was unable any longer to act, but was taken from the battle- 
ground faint and almost lifeless. 

' Let the heart of his country cherish 

His high and well-earn'd fame, 
Till a glory that cannot perish 

Be gather'd around his name.' 

" The battle at that point was ended, except in pursuing 
the retreating foe ; though in other parts of the line it conti- 
nued a considerable time, till the main body of the army drew 
so near as to send a reinforcement to the left wing of the bat- 
talion, when the retreat of the Indians became universal. 

" This was one of the most glorious victories of the war. 
The battalion under Colonel Johnson consisted of about five 
hundred men ; the number of the savages was not less than 
fifteen hundred. The Indians chose their own manner of 
fighting; and it was in" close contest, each man being stained 
with the blood of his victim by means of their nearness. The 
number of killed and wounded of Johnson's battalion was 
about fifty. That of the Indians could not be ascertained, as 
they are in the habit of carrying off as many of their dead 
as possible. Eighty were found lying upon the field, besides 
many others slain in the pursuit, and borne away by those 
who escaped. 

" The effects of this victory were also as salutary as its 
achievement was glorious. It put a complete period to th-e 
war upon the north-western frontier, and ended the cruel 
murders that had been so frequently perpetrated in those 
regions, in which female tenderness and helpless infancy had 
been the common victims of savage barbarity. 

" No sooner had the battle ended, than it was discovered 
by those of the regiment who were viewing the scene of hor- 
ror which the battle-ground presented, that the Indian whom 
the colonel had slain was, in all probability, the celebrated 
Tecumseh ; and before the colonel had so far revived as to be 
able to speak, the tidings ran through the camp, that he had 
killed Tecumseh. This was for some time undisputed ; but 
whether envy or honest doubt led to a denial of the fact, is 

72 2x* 



570 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813- 

neither certain nor important, yet it afterwards became a 
subject of dispute whether it was Tecumseh that he slew. 
Some of the circumstances which confirm the fact, shall here 
be noted. It is known that Tecumseh was killed in this bat- 
tle, and that the person whom Colonel Johnson killed was a 
chief warrior. It is also known that but one other chief was 
killed, in any way answering to the description given of this 
person, and that he, a brother-in-law to Tecumseh, was killed 
in another part of the battle. Several persons who were in 
the battle, and who were perfectly indiflferent to the hand by 
which he fell, have averred to the writer of this, that Tecum- 
seh was found dead upon the very spot where Colonel John- 
son killed this chief; and that a medal was taken from that 
body, which was known to have been presented to Tecumseh 
by the British government. Anthony Shane, a celebrated 
Indian warrior, who is partially civilized, is a man of high 
character for honour and integrity, and has been the uniform 
friend of the United States ; he was at the Thames at the 
time of battle, and had been intimately acquainted with Te- 
cumseh from early childhood. The writer of this inquired of 
Shane, what he knew of the death of Tecumseh. He an- 
swered, that immediately after the battle of the Thames was 
ended, he went to the spot where several of the men had seen 
Colonel Johnson kill an Indian commander, and there he saw 
Tecumseh lie dead upon the ground ; that he examined his 
body, and observed that he must have been killed by a per- 
son on horseback, for a ball and three buckshot were shot 
into his breast, and the ball passed through his body and 
came out at the lower part of his back. While looking at 
the body, he was asked if he was certain it was Tecumseh. 
Shane told them he was certain, for he had known him from 
childhood, and that if they would examine his thigh they 
would discover a remarkable scar, occasioned by the misfor- 
tune of Tecumseh having his thigh broken many years be- 
fore ; that, on examining, they found the scar as he had de- 
scribed. Shane knew this person to be Tecumseh, and his 
body was found where Colonel Johnson had killed an Indian 
commander. He was killed by a person on horseback ; and 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 571 

Colonel Johnson was the only person in that part of the battle 
who fought on horseback. He was shot with a ball and three 
buckshot ; and the pistol with which Colonel Johnson shot 
the Indian chief was charged with a ball and three buckshot. 
These circumstances establish the fact beyond all reasonable 
doubt, and as conclusively as any historical fact can be estab- 
lished, that Colonel Johnson, in this chivalrous act, slew Te- 
cumseh, and delivered his country from the most courageous, 
the most hostile, the most skilful, and the most terrific savage 
foe that America ever had. His enmity was like that of 
Hannibal to the Romans, and his arm not less powerful ; but 
before the unconquerable spirit of Johnson he fell, and terror 
fled from the habitations of the frontiers." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

General Cass stationed at Detroit — General Harrison makes Preparations to 
proceed in the War, but is badly treated by the Government — Resigns his Com- 
mission — An ill-contrived Expedition — Invasion of Canada — Battle of Chippewa. 

'« " Ducit amor patriae." 

The fall of Detroit having put an end to the Indian war in 
that quarter and given security to the frontiers. General Har- 
rison discharged the greater part of his volunteers, stationed 
General Cass at Detroit, with about 1000 men, and being 
without orders from the War Department, he resolved to pro- 
ceed to the Ontario frontier in the fleet. Accordingly, on the 
22d of October, he sailed from Erie with M'Arthur's brigade 
and a battalion of riflemen, and arrived at Buffalo on the 
24th. From this place, he marched to Newark, where he 
received orders from the War Department to send the bri- 
gade to Sackett's Harbour, and was informed that he had 
permission to return to his family. This intimation, the 
meaning of which it was not difficult to understand, was 
complied with, and he soon afterwards resigned his commis- 
sion. 



572 TIIE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 

Before we leave this quarter, it is proper to advert to an 
event which took place at a somewhat later period. The fort 
of Mackinaw was now the only one remaining of the British 
conquests in the west. In the spring of 1814, an effort was 
made by Lieutenant-Colonel Croghan, jointly with Commo- 
dore Sinclair, who commanded the flotilla on lake Erie, to 
obtain possession of it. A landing was effected on the island, 
but the strength of the place was found to be so great, that 
the troops were re-embarked, with the loss of Major Holmes, 
several other officers, and about sixty men. Two of the 
American schooners were subsequently captured by boarding, 
with great slaughter. 

While, on the north-v^estern frontier, the disgrace of former 
campaigns had been repaid by an ample harvest of victory, 
the American people were doomed to experience fresh disap- 
pointment and mortification in another quarter, from the want 
of judgment in the administration, or of energy in the com- 
manding officers. The retirement of Generals Dearborn and 
Lewis, had left the command of the army at fort George in 
the hands of General Boyd, who was restricted by the go- 
vernment from engaging in offensive operations, as it was 
intended to intrust the command to other officers. Generals 
Wilkinson and Hampton were called from the southern sec- 
tion of the United States for this purpose. To the former 
was given the command of the forces on the shores of the 
Ontario, while the latter was assigned to the northern army, 
then encamped at Plattsburg. The public voice called for 
some more decided and energetic measures than had as yet 
been taken. The strength and spirits of the army had been 
wasted in a succession of petty attacks upon unimportant 
places, while the two great posts of Kingston and Montreal 
remained secure and unthreatened. 

It was now determined by the administration, that one or 
both of these should be assailed by the respectable force 
which, towards the month of August, had been assembled ; 
and, for the purpose of maturing the plan and superintending 
its execution, the Secretary of War, General Armstrong, pro- 
ceeded to Sackett's Harbour. After considerable delibera- 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 573 



tion, the arrangements of the campaign were finally agreed 
upon. It was determined that the army should fall down the 
St. Lawrence in boats ; that it should be joined by the force 
under General Hampton at the most convenient point of junc- 
tion, and should thence proceed to attack Montreal, which, 
at this period, was supposed to be defended by a small force. 
General Wilkinson, who arrived at Sackett's Harbour on the 
20th of August, had been, for some time after that period, 
diligently employed in collecting and organizing the scattered 
detachments of the army, which were gradually concentrated 
on Grenadier Island, near the head of the St. Lawrence. Al- 
though the advanced state of the season rendered it necessary 
that the greatest expedition should be used, yet the difficulties 
attending this measure were so numerous, that it was not 
until the 23d of October that a sufficient force could be as- 
sembled. The army thus collected, consisted of about 7000 
men. The strength of the enemy at Kingston, was estimated 
at about 4000. To favour the idea of an attack being in- 
tended on this place, a post on the St. Lawrence, contiguous 
to it, was fixed on for the rendezvous of the army, to which 
the advance, under General Brown., was despatched. On the 
3d of November, the rear, with the commanding general, 
arrived at this spot, and everything being in readiness, the 
whole flotilla got under way, and proceeded down the river 
on the 5th. 

It was soon discovered that a passage down the St. Law- 
rence was not to be effected without difficulty. At every 
narrow pass, artillery and musketeers were stationed ; and 
the enemy, relieved of apprehension on the score of Kingston, 
had despatched a force of 1500 men, and a squadron of armed 
vessels, to hang upon the rear. It became necessary, there- 
fore, that a party should be landed to remove the obstructions 
in front ; for which purpose, Colonel Macomb was detached 
with about 1200 men, and was subsequently reinforced by 
General Brown's brigade, while the brigade under General 
Boyd acted as a rear-guard. After surmounting various ob- 
stacles, the flotilla arrived, on the 10th, in the vicinity of a 
large and dangerous rapid. Here, an attack was made on 



574 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



the rear of the flotilla, by the enemy's gun-boats, who were 
not driven back until a battery of eighteen-pounders was 
erected. On the 11th, information was received from General 
Brown, that he had repulsed the force opposed to him, and 
had taken a position at the foot of the rapid. It was deter- 
mined, therefore, to attempt the passage, when information 
was received from General Boyd, that the British were ad- 
vancing in column to assail him. He was immediately di- 
rected to anticipate the attack, by moving against the enemy 
with his whole force. The latter was advantageously posted 
behind the deep ravines which intersected the plain. The 
attack was commenced by driving back a strong party of the 
British, posted in the wood. General Covington then ad- 
vanced on the right of the enemy, with his brigade, while 
Colonel Ripley assailed his left flank, with the 21st regiment, 
after having routed with the bayonet a superior number op- 
posed to him. The attack on the enemy's right was not 
attended with success. The fall of General Covington, who 
was killed while bravely leading his brigade to the charge, 
and the want of ammunition, caused that part of the Ameri- 
cans to retire. In its retreat, a piece of artillery was cap- 
tured by the enemy, in consequence of the difficulty of the 
ground. At length, after a contest of two hours, the Ameri- 
cans retired and re-occupied the ground from which they had 
originally driven the enemy, while the latter fell back to their 
camp. The infantry were soon afterwards embarked on 
board the flotilla, and the dragoons and light artillery pro- 
ceeded by land to the foot of the rapid. 

The numbers engaged in this action, have been variously 
represented. From the British official accounts, it would 
appear that their own force did not exceed 800, while that of 
their adversaries is stated at 4000. This palpable exaggera- 
tion is of a nature to throw discredit upon their whole report. 
It is known that the force of General Boyd did not exceed 
1700 men, and it is probable the numbers of the enemy were 
not inferior. Both parties claimed a victory. The American 
commander contended that the object of his attack had been 
gained in the repulse of the enemy, and the occupation of the 



ff 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 575 



ground previously possessed by him. The British, on the 
other hand, maintained that the capture of a piece of artil- 
lery, and the retreat of the Americans to their boats, left all 
the advantage on therr side. It must be acknowledged that 
the advantages, if any, gained by the Americans, were not 
sufficient to compensate for the loss of men which they sus- 
tained; 102 were killed, including General Covington, and 
237 wounded. The enemy, according to their official report, 
lost 22 killed, 147 wounded, and 12 missing; they claimed 
also to have captured 100 prisoners. 

On the succeeding day, the flotilla got under way, and, 
having passed the rapid without loss, arrived near St. Regis, 
where the advance, under General Brown, was found. Here 
it was that General Wilkinson expected to meet the army of 
General Hampton, in conformity with orders despatched on 
the 6th from Prescott. Instead of these troops, a messenger 
was found from the latter officer, conveying information that 
in consequence of the state of the roads and the scantiness 
of provisions, he was unable to undertake the contemplated 
movement. A council of war was then called by General 
Wilkinson, composed of the chief officers of the army, who 
gave it as their unanimous opinion, that it would be unad- 
visable to make an attempt on Montreal, at that advanced 
period of the season. The Canadian territory was accord- 
ingly evacuated, and the troops went into winter-quarters at 
French Mills, near to St. Regis. Thus terminated this ill- 
contrived and disastrous expedition. Great expectations had 
been formed by the American people, but it was perhaps for- 
tunate that it terminated at St. Regis. The enemy had taken 
every precautionary measure of defence ; the river was of 
difficult navigation, the season was very far advanced, the 
indisposition of General Wilkinson prevented his directing 
the operations in person, and the stock of provisions was 
found to be insufficient for any considerable period. Under 
these circumstances, had the army been reinforced by the junc- 
tion of that of General Hampton, and had it even obtained 
possession of Montreal, it is highly probable that a fate similar 
to that of the French in Russia would have befallen it 



576 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



The strength of the northern army, under General Hamp- 
ton, was about 4000 men, all regulars, by whom it was in- 
tended, as we have seen, that a junction should be made with 
the troops from Sackett's Harbour. Accordingly, in the 
month of September, General Hampton moved from Platts- 
burg towards the Canadian frontier, which he crossed on the 
21st of October. The route of the army, which had been 
obstructed in every possible way by the enemy, lay along 
the left bank of the Chateauguay river, by which it advanced 
with great difficulty until the 25th, when, it being ascertained 
that the enemy, under Sir George Prevost, was in consider- 
able force behind a wood which separated the army from the 
open country. General Hampton determined upon endeavour- 
ing to cut them off. Colonel Purdy was, therefore, detached 
to the right bank with the first brigade, that he might gain 
the rear of the enemy, by a ford about twelve miles below, 
while their attention was engaged by the second brigade in 
front. Unfortunately, from the darkness of the night and 
the ignorance of the guides, the first part of the plan entirely 
failed. The second brigade advanced on the 26th, and soon 
afterwards learned that the enemy was posted behind a ravine, 
at the distance of two miles. The 10th regiment, consisting 
of 237 men, from the report of that day, was moved forward, 
and, after a march of half an hour, fell in with a body of the 
enemy, which they soon routed and drove from the ground. 
The rest of the brigade did not appear until after the termi- 
nation of the action, and to the great regret of the army, the 
first brigade was about that time perceived on the opposite 
bank, it having been unable to advance further, from the 
causes we have stated. On the same day, the whole force 
retired, about two miles, to the spot where the baggage had 
been halted, without molestation from the enemy, who were 
secured behind entrenchments and abattis. At this place, 
the army remained until the 28th, when intelligence having 
been received, which led to the conclusion that General Wil- 
kinson had abandoned his descent of the St. Lawrence, a 
council of war was called, by which it was unanimously de- 
cided to retire to such a position as would secure its commu- 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 577 

nication with the United States. The troops were accord- 
ingly put in motion, and on the 2d of November, reached 
their former post, at the Four Corners, within the territory 
of the United States. Here General Hampton received the 
despatch from General Wilkinson, directing a junction of his 
force on the St. Lawrence. He immediately returned an 
answer, stating, as we have already mentioned, his opinion of 
the impracticability of the measure, in consequence of the 
want of provisions, and soon afterwards fell back to Platts- 
burg, where the troops went into winter-quarters. General 
Hampton then resigned his commission, leaving General Izard 
in command. 

The two divisions of the northern army remained in win- 
ter-quarters, at these posts, until the month of January, when 
General Wilkinson received orders from the War Department 
to detach General Brown with 2000 men to the Niagara fron- 
tier, and to fall back with the remainder of his force to Platts- 
burg. This order was complied with, and the remaining 
force being concentrated at the latter place, nothing of im- 
portance occurred until the end of March, when General Wil- 
kinson, hearing that the enemy had collected a considerable 
force near the lines, resolved to dislodge them. He accord- 
ingly moved from Plattsburg on the 30th of March, with 
about 4000 men, and found the main body of th« British 
posted at La Cole Mill, a strong and extensive stone building, 
which had been fortified for the purpose. The state of the 
roads did not admit of the heavy ordnance being brought up, 
and an attempt was made to batter the walls with two small 
pieces, but they were found to be too solid to be shaken, and, 
after repeated endeavours, the American commander drew 
oflf his forces, having suflfered a loss of 100 men in killed and 
wounded. He subsequently retired to Odletown, and, in con- 
sequence of the discontent excited in the public mind by the 
result of this and the preceding expedition, he was removed 
from the command, which devolved upon General Izard. 

We return now to the Ontario frontier, which, during the 
close of the year 1813, was visited by some of the severest 
calamities of war. After the departure of General Wilkinson 

73 ¥v 



578 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



on his ill-fated expedition to Montreal, the command of fort 
George devolved upon Brigadier-General M'Clure, of the New 
York militia. The force of this officer having been reduced 
on the 10th of December, by the expiration of the term of 
service of the militia, to about 100 men, it vi^as deemed expe- 
dient to abandon the place. On the 12th, the troops were 
accordingly removed, having previously destroyed the fort 
and public property, and, it is painful to add, the flourishing 
village of Newark. This outrage upon humanity, and the 
laws of civilized warfare, perpetrated at an inclement season 
of the year, and without any sufficient motive, excited, as it 
deserved, the indignation of the American people. It was 
immediately disavowed by the government, in an official com- 
munication made to the public authorities in Canada ; but, 
before the disavowal reached the latter, a severe and excessive 
measure of retaliation had been taken. On the 19ih, at mid- 
night, the enemy crossed the river with about 600 men, sur- 
prised fort Niagara, and massacred nearly the whole garrison, 
consisting of about 300 men, chiefly invalids. From fort Nia- 
gara, they proceeded to Lewistown, and, after routing a con- 
siderable body of militia, burned that village, Manchester, 
Youngstown, and the Indian settlement of Tuscaroras. On 
the 30th of the same month, a party of regulars, militia, and 
Indians, in number about 700, landed at Black Rock and ad- 
vanced to the town of Buffalo, to defend which a body of 
about 2500 militia was stationed. On the approach of the 
enemy, however, these men fled without firing a musket, to 
their lasting disgrace, and the unfortunate village was soon 
taken, and immediately reduced to ashes, after which, the 
British returned to Canada. In thus devastating a whole 
frontier, which, but a little while before, had been the scene 
of happiness and prosperity, they unquestionably exceeded 
the bounds of a just retaliation, had even the conduct of 
General M'Clure received the sanction of the American go- 
vernment. In this case ; in the employment of the savages ; 
and, indeed, in many other instances, the British officers ap- 
pear to have been governed by a vindictive and unrelenting 
spirit, altogether incompatible with the relations of civilized 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 579 



States, and with the enlarged and liberal principles of religion 
and morality. 

The naval warfare on lake Ontario, although not marked 
by the same brilliant events as that on lake Erie, was yet not 
devoid of interest. Each party had, at different times, a nu- 
merical superiority of force, and as the one government in- 
creased the number and force of its vessels in exact proportion 
to the other, it came to pass that before the conclusion of the 
war, ships of the largest magnitude in naval architecture 
floated over those waters, which, till then, had borne only the 
light skiff of the Indian, or the slender shallop of commerce. 
This alternate preponderance of force, gave occasion to the 
display of the highest skill and seamanship by the two com- 
manders ; and, notwithstanding the narrow limits of the lake, 
neither party was able to boast of signal success over the 
other. In the month of August, 1813, an encounter took 
place between the two squadrons, which, after being pro- 
ductive of a variety of manoeuvres, terminated in the capture 
of two of the smaller American vessels, in consequence of the 
superior sailing of the British ships. No important event 
occurred subsequently to this period, until the beginning of 
October. Both squadrons were then on the lake, but the pru- 
dent caution of the British commander, whose force was then 
inferior, induced him to avoid a general action, white the 
efforts of Commodore Chauncey were generally crippled by 
the dull sailing of his small vessels. On the 5th, however, 
after a fruitless chase of the British squadron, he succeeded 
in capturing four transports, on board of which were about 
300 officers and privates of the regular army. The winter 
and spring of 1814, were occupied chiefly in augmenting the 
force of the two fleets. At the commencement of the season, 
the superiority was on the side of the enemy, and, as a frigate 
of the largest size was then building at Sackett's Harbour, 
he availed himself of his command of the lake to destroy as 
much as possible the American means of warfare. On the 
5th of May, an attack was made upon Oswego, a small vil- 
lage near the border of the lake, which had become the depo- 
sit of a considerable quantity of naval stores, and was de- 



580 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



fended by a fort, containing five guns and about 300 men, 
under Colonel Mitchell. The enemy made an attempt to land 
from fifteen boats, but so heavy a fire was opened upon them 
from the fort, that they were compelled to retire. On the 
succeeding day, the whole fleet havin^g taken a position to 
cannonade the fort, the British troops succeeded in effecting 
a landing, advanced, and took possession of the village, from 
which the naval stores had principally been removed through 
the vigilance of Colonel Mitchell. Disappointed in their ob- 
ject, the British retreated on the 7th, with the loss of about 
100 men. They are supposed to have amounted to about 
1500, and were under the command of General Drummond. 
The American loss was about 70. 

The launch and equipment of the new American frigate, 
compelled Sir James Yeo to withdraw his squadron to Kings- 
ton, leaving a number of gun-boats on the lake. The oppor- 
tunity was then taken by the American officers, to remove 
the stores from Oswego to Sackett's Harbour by water. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 28th of May, Captain Woolsey, of the navy, 
left the former port with eighteen boats, accompanied by 
Major Appling, with about 130 of the rifle regiment, and an 
equal number of Indians. Having arrived off" Sandy Creek, 
they discovered the enemy's gun-boats, and, in consequence, 
entered the stream. The riflemen and Indians were landed, 
and posted in an ambuscade. The enemy, as was expected, 
ascended the creek and landed a party, which was moving up 
its bank, when the Americans rose from their ambush, and 
opened so destructive a fire upon them, that in ten minutes 
they surrendered, to the number of about 200, including two 
post-captains and six lieutenants. With these, were also cap- 
tured three gun-boats, and several smaller vessels. Of the 
Americans, only one man was killed. Shortly after this 
event, Commodore Chauncey, having completed the equipment 
of his new frigate, again sailed from Sackett's Harbour ; but 
as he had now a superiority of force, the British commander 
did not think proper to venture an engagement. 

The campaign on the borders of Lake Ontario, did not 
commence until near midsummer. General Brown was de- 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 581 

taclied, by order of the government, from the northern army 
to Sackett's Harbour, with about 2000 men. After his arri- 
val at the latter place, he remained for some time employed 
in disciplining and organizing troops, until he received direc- 
tions from the War Department to move to Black Rock and 
Buffalo, with a view to future operations in the peninsula. 
The army at Buffalo amounted to between 3000 and 4000 
men, and was composed of two brigades of infantry, under 
Generals Scott and Ripley, a detachment of artillery, and a 
body of volunteers from New York and Pennsylvania, under 
General Porter. On the morning of the 3d of July, this well- 
appointed and gallant force landed in the vicinity of the Brit- 
ish fort of Erie, opposite to Black Rock. Preparations were 
immediately made for an assault, but before the artillery could 
be planted it surrendered, and the garrison, to the number of 
137, were made prisoners of war. 

Having placed a small garrison in fort Erie, General Brown 
advanced, on the succeeding day, to within two miles of Chip- 
pewa, on the heights, near which the enemy's troops, to the 
number of about 3000, were entrenched. On the morning of 
the 5th, General Porter was detached with the volunteers to 
drive back the enemy's skirmishers ; and, by cutting off their 
retreat, to bring on a general engagement. The enemy was 
not slow in manifesting a disposition to meet the Americans. 
About noon. General Riall, who commanded the British forces, 
moved out of his works, and commenced an attack upon Ge- 
neral Porter's command, to support which, the first brigade 
and part of the artillery were now advanced, and took post 
on its right. The determined onset of the British regulars, 
soon compelled the raw troops under General Porter to give 
way, and thus exposed the flank of General Scott's brigade. 
To prevent the enemy from profiting by this advantage, Ge- 
neral Brown now ordered up General Ripley's brigade, with 
directions to skirt the wood on the left of the line, and to 
gain, if possible, the rear of the British right. After a severe 
struggle. Major Jessup, with the left flank battalion of the 
first brigade, succeeded in reaching a position from which he 

opened so galling a fire as to compel that portion of their 

__ 



582 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



troops to retrograde ; while, at the same time, the remainder 
of the brigade continued to press forward. The enemy now, 
finding his efforts ineffectual on every point, gradually fell 
back until he reached the sloping ground in the vicinity of 
Chippewa, where, being hard pressed by the victors, his 
retreat became a rapid and disorderly flight. The further 
advance of the American troops was checked by the enemy's 
batteries ; and the day being now too far spent for an assault, 
General Brown drew off his forces and returned to camp. 

The battle of Chippewa was undoubtedly the best fought 
action that had yet occurred in the progress of the w^ar. The 
numbers on both sides were nearly equal ; the troops engaged 
were chiefly of the regular army, and the field was won by 
fair and open fighting. The Americans had for some time 
been earnestly employed in perfecting themselves in disci- 
pline, under zealous and enlightened officers, who were anxious 
to wipe oflf the stigma which successive defeats had attached 
to the American arms. The British troops, on the other hand, 
were veterans, and many of them had recently arrived, flushed 
with the conquest of the first soldiers of Europe. To have 
beaten them, therefore, by dint of superior skill or bravery, 
was a source of great triumph to the American army, and 
excited unbounded joy in the republic. The loss of men was 
nevertheless unusually great, and showed the obstinacy with 
which the battle had been contested. The official report of 
General Brown, stated the killed, wounded, and missing of 
the American army at 328. That of the British commander 
represented his whole loss to have amounted to 499, among 
whom were many officers of rank. 

Soon after his defeat, General Riall abandoned the works 
at Chippewa, and fell back to Queenstown, while the Ameri- 
can army occupied the former place, and no operation of ma- 
terial importance ensued for some days. On the 25th, how- 
ever. General Brown being informed that an attack was me- 
ditated by the enemy upon Schlosser, a place on the American 
side of the Niagara, where the sick and baggage of the army 
had been sent, resolved to draw him off, if possible, from this 
attempt. General Scott was accordingly despatched, at four 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 583 

in the afternoon, with his own brigade, Towson's artillery, 
and the dragoons. After proceeding about two miles, the 
enemy was found posted on an eminence, with the Queens- 
town road in their front, and defended by a battery of nine 
pieces of cannon. A narrow strip of wood intervened be- 
tween the two armies. After despatching an express for rein- 
forcements, General Scott resolved to attack the enemy. The 
action was commenced by Captain Towson's artillery, and 
was supported for an hour by the first brigade alone, against 
the greatly superior force of the enemy. The right of the 
brigade was occupied by Major Jessup, with the 25th regi- 
ment. This gallant officer, finding the road which led to the 
British rear unoccupied, threw himself upon it with impetuo- 
sity, and succeeded in capturing General Riall and many 
other officers and men. The ranks of the Americans were, 
however, rapidly thinning under the severe fire from the ene- 
my's batteries, while the British were continually receiving 
reinforcements. The day was nearly spent when General Rip- 
ley, with the second brigade, arrived at a critical moment. 
He was directed by General Brown to form on the right of 
the first brigade, but perceiving that by this step he should 
subject himself to a similar fate, he resolved to disobey his 
orders, to place himself between the enemy and the first bri- 
gade, and to attack the heights on which their battery was 
placed, without the possession of which, it was plain the 
Americans had nothing to hope. He therefore formed the 
two regiments of which his brigade was composed in front of 
General Scott's line, and, leading the 23d in person, he di- 
rected Colonel Miller, with the 21st, to assault the enemy's 
battery. The order was executed by the latter with the 
utmost gallantry. After a short contest, in which many of 
the artillerymen were bayoneted at their pieces, the enemy's 
cannon were carried, and at the same moment General Rip- 
ley, with the 23d, drove the infantry from the crest of the 
eminence. The British troops being thus forced from their 
position, the American line was formed in front of the cap- 
tured artillery. The conflict was, however, not yet over. 
The enemy, being reinforced by a large body of fresh troops. 



584 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 

brought up his whole force, and made three resolute and de- 
termined attacks upon the Americans, in each of which, after 
a close contest of bayonets, he was repulsed and driven down 
the hill. It was midnight. The command of the American 
army had devolved upon General Ripley, in consequence of 
the wounds of Generals Brown and Scott. Previous to retir- 
ing from the field, the former had given directions to General 
Ripley, to collect the wounded and return to camp. These 
orders were now obeyed, but, unfortunately, from the circum- 
stance of most of the horses being killed, it was found impos- 
sible to remove the captured cannon. They were, therefore, 
left on the field, having been previously spiked. 

In this sanguinary engagement, the superiority of numbers 
w^as unquestionably on the side of the British ; only one-half 
of the American army was engaged at one time : the first 
brigade having been put almost hors du combat, before the 
arrival of the second. The enemy, on the other hand, re- 
ceived continued accessions of fresh troops after the com- 
mencement of the action. The palm of victory was claimed 
by both parties. If occupying the position of an enemy, 
after previously driving him from it, obtaining possession of 
his artillery, and retaining it in opposition to his repeated 
efforts to recover it, be not a victory, it is impossible to 
say to what actions that expression can be applied. The 
British troops had been withdrawn from the field before the 
Americans retired to their camp, and every appearance of 
opposition had ended. The loss of men was great on both 
sides. Of the British, 84 were killed, including five officers, 
559 wounded, among whom were Generals Drummond and 
Riall and 39 other officers, and 235 missing, of whom 169 
were taken prisoners. Of the Americans, 11 officers, and 
160 non-commissioned officers and privates were killed, 54 
officers, and 417 non-commissioned officers and privates 
wounded, and 8 officers, and 109 non-commissioned officers 
and privates missing. 

" On the succeeding morning. General Ripley, in conformity 
with orders from General Brown, put his troops in motion on 
the Queenstown road, but having soon afterwards learned 



1813.] THE LATE WAR. 585 

that tlie enemy was in great force, at no considerable distance, 
while his own strength did not exceed 1600 effectives, he 
again resolved to disobey his instructions. He therefore 
broke up the camp at Chippewa, and, destroying the bridges 
in his rear, retreated to fort Erie, the defences of which were 
immediately repaired and strengthened. The enemy, to the 
number of about 5000 men, followed his footsteps, and en- 
camped about two miles from fort Erie, to which , they now 
laid a regular siege. On the day after the commencement of 
the siege, General Gaines arrived from Sackett's Harbour, 
and took the command. From this period until the 14th of 
August, a heavy cannonade was maintained against the Ame- 
rican works, and the approaches of the besiegers were gra- 
dually drawn nearer. At length, at two in the morning of 
the 15th, the British troops moved to the assault in three 
columns. The right, under Colonel Fisher, advanced to 
within a short distance of the American left, which was de- 
fended by the 21st regiment, and Towson's artillery, when it 
was received with so destructive a fire, that, after four suc- 
cessive attempts to advance, it broke and fled. The left 
column, under Colonel Scott, was received by the 9th regi- 
ment. Captain Douglas's artillery, and two companies of vo- 
lunteers, and retreated after the first fire. The centre column, 
led by Colonel Drummond, advanced under cover of a ravine, 
without loss, to the wall, against which they placed scaling- 
ladders, and, after a sanguinary struggle, established them- 
selves for a short time on the bastion ; at this moment, a sud- 
den explosion took place under the platform, which destroyed 
numbers of both armies, and put the remainder of the enemy 
to flight. The remains of the British columns then retired 
to the camp. The loss of the assailants was very severe. 
Colonels Scott and Drummond, with 54 others, were killed, 
319 wounded, and 439 missing, most of whom were killed or 
wounded. The American loss amounted to but 84 in all. 

The besieging army lay comparatively inactive for a con- 
siderable period after this repulse. Fresh troops were con- 
stantly arriving, and a heavy cannonade was continued against 
the fort. The fire from the enemy's batteries proving very 



586 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1813. 



severe and destructive, General Brown, who had resumed the 
command, resolved on a sortie, for the purpose of effecting 
their destruction. The British force at this time consisted of 
three brigades, of about 1500 men each, one of which was 
alternately stationed at the batteries, while the others re- 
mained at the camp, two miles distant. At noon, on the 17th 
of September, the party destined for this enterprise moved 
out of the fort in tvvo divisions. The left, under General 
Porter, advanced through a wood with so much celerity, that 
the enemy were completely surprised ; a short conflict ensued, 
which ended in the capture of the batteries and garrison, with 
the loss of Colonels Gibson and Wood, who fell gallantly 
fighting at the head of their men. The right division, under 
General Miller, had been stationed in a ravine, with direc- 
tions not to advance until General Porter should have gained 
the enemy's flank. The noise of the firing being heard, Ge- 
neral Miller immediately moved forward, and, after a close 
and severe contest, the whole of the enemy's batteries were 
carried. The cantion were then spiked, and the troops, hav- 
ing accomplished their object, returned to their fort, carrying 
with them 380 prisoners. Besides this loss, 115 of the enemy 
were killed, and 178 wounded. The American loss was also 
very severe : 79 were killed, among whom was General Davis 
of the New York militia, 232 wounded, and 216 missing. 

The success of this enterprise compelled the British com- 
mander to raise the siege, and fall back behind the Chippewa. 
The American army was also soon afterwards strongly rein- 
forced, by the arrival of Major-General Izard, with 5000 men 
from Plattsburg. Having taken the chief command, that 
officer immediately advanced towards Chippewa, where he 
found the enemy strongly entrenched, and vainly endeavoured 
to entice him into the field. The season being far advanced, 
it was determined to withdraw the army to the American 
shore. Fort Erie was therefore destroyed, and the troops 
went into winter-quarters at Buffalo, Black Rock, and Ba- 
tavia. 



1814.] THE LATE WAR. 587 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Remarkable Cruise of the Essex — Engaged by a superior British Force— San- 
guinary Battle of three Hours — Capture of the Essex. 

" Thou eanst not boast a victory rightly won." 

The spring of 1814 was distinguished for the loss of the 
American frigate Essex, Commodore David Porter, which 
was captured on the 28th of March, in the Bay of Valparaiso, 
South America, by a superior British force. The cruise of 
the Essex is remarkable for its extent, and the adventurous 
spirit with which it was conducted. The Essex sailed from 
the Delaware in October, 1812, under orders to join the 
squadron of Commodore Bainbridge, off the coast of South 
America. After touching at the Cape De Verds, Captain 
Porter arrived on the coast of Brazil in November, and not 
finding the Constitution, proceeded round Cape Horn, which 
he doubled, during tremendous storms, in the month of Feb- 
ruary. He then put into the port of Valparaiso, and having 
procured the necessary supplies, sailed for the Gallipagos 
islands. Here he cruised for the space of six months, during 
which he inflicted incalculable injury on the enemy's com- 
merce. The whole of the British vessels at that time on the 
Pacific were captured, to the number of twelve; three of 
them were sent to Valparaiso, three to the United States, and 
two given up to the prisoners. Of the remainder, one was 
converted into a vessel of war, on which he mounted twenty 
guns, and named her the Essex Junior, and with her and the 
other three, he proceeded to the Marquesas islands, for the 
purpose of provisioning and repairing his frigate. At Nooa- 
keva, one of this group, he met with a very hospitable recep- 
tion from the natives in general; but the hostile conduct of 
the Typees, one of the tribes, led to a conflict with them, 
which ended in the destruction of their village, with circum- 
stances of severity deeply to be regretted. 

In company with the Essex Junior, Captain Porter sailed 
from Nooakeva on the 12th of December, and arrived at 



588 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1814 



Valparaiso shortly afterwards. They had not been here 
long, when a British frigate, the Phoebe, Captain Hillyar, 
with the Cherub sloop of war, appeared off the port, having 
been fitted out expressly to meet the Essex. Their united 
force was much greater than Captain Porter's, the Essex 
Junior being a mere store-ship. After a blockade of six 
weeks, he at length made an attempt to get to sea ; unfortu- 
nately, in rounding a point, a squall carried away his main- 
topmast, and thus precluded all hope of getting out. Return- 
ing to the harbour was equally impracticable, and Captain 
Porter therefore ran into a small bay, within pistol-shot of 
the shore, where the laws of war ought to have protected 
him. Captain Hillyar, however, regardless of these rules, 
commenced an attack before a spring could be put on the Es- 
sex's cable. The Phcebe and Cherub both took a position 
under her stern, and opened a heavy fire from their broad- 
sides. In return, Captain Porter could bring only three 
twelve-pounders to bear on the enemy, and, finding his crew 
to be falling fast around him, he cut his cable, and ran down 
with the intention of laying the Phoebe on board. The latter, 
however, kept away, and being armed with long guns, the 
Essex carrying only carronades, her fire was so destructive 
that Captain Porter determined to run his ship on shore ; but 
the wind setting off the land, he was unable to accomplish his 
purpose, and, after a sanguinary contest of three hours, no 
alternative remained but to strike his colours. The slaughter 
on board the Essex was very great ; out of 255 men, 154 
were killed, wounded or missing. The flag of the Essex was 
not struck to an equal force. The Phoebe mounted 53 guns, 
and had on board 320 men ; the Cherub, 28 gUns, and 180 
men. The number of guns on board the two vessels was, 
therefore, 81, while the Essex carried only 46. The Essex 
Junior was at anchor in the port of Valparaiso during the 
action, in which she bore no part. 



1814.] THE LATE WAR. 589 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Captain Warrington, Commander of the Peacock, falls in with and captures 
the British Brig Epervier — Prize brought to the United States. 

" Then here 's to the heroes, high-sounding in story, 
Who have gallantly met and conquer'd the foe." 

The ship Peacock, of 18 guns, commanded by Captain 
Warrington, being on a cruise on the southern coast, fell in 
with, on the 29th of October, the British brig Epervier, of 
equal force. After an action of forty-two minutes, the latter 
surrendered, with the loss of 8 killed and 15 wounded. Only 
one man was killed, and two wounded, on board the Peacock. 
The prize, which was found to contain ^120,000, was brought 
safely to the United States. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

General Ross marches to the Capitol of the United States— Issues Orders for the 
Burning of the Public Buildings — Order executed. 



While the shouts of naval victories yet echoed over the 
land, the public attention was irresistibly drawn to the move- 
ments of the enemy on the sea-board. About the middle of 
August, between fifty and sixty sail of the British arrived in 
the Chesapeake, with troops destined for the attack of Wash- 
ington, the capital of the United States. On the 23d of Au- 
gust, 6000 British troops, commanded by General Ross, forced 
their way to that place, burnt the capitol, president's house, 
and executive offices. Having thus accomplished an object 
highly disgraceful to the British arms, and wantonly burned 
public buildings, the ornament and pride of the nation, the 
destruction of which could not hasten the termination of the 
war, on the 25th they retired, and, by rapid marches, re- 



590 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1814. 

gained their shipping, having lost, during the expedition 
nearly 1000 men. 

The following are the particulars of this deplorable affair — 
a narrative that reflects even more discredit on the temporary 
conquerors than upon the conquered themselves. 

The troops, under General Ross, were landed at Benedict, 
on the Pawtuxet, forty-seven miles from Washington. On 
the 21st, they moved toward Nottingham, and the following 
day reached Marlborough. A British flotilla, commanded by 
Cockburn, consisting of launches and barges, ascended the 
river at the same time, keeping on the right flank of the 
army. The day following, on approaching the American 
flotilla of Commodore Barney, which had taken refuge high 
up the river, twelve miles from Washington, some sailors left 
on board the flotilla for the purpose, should it be necessary, 
set fire to it and fled. 

On the arrival of the British army at Bladensburg, six 
miles from Washington, General Winder, commander of the 
American forces, chiefly militia collected for the occasion, 
ordered them to engage the enemy. The principal part of 
the militia, however, fled at the opening of the contest. Com- 
modore Barney, with a few eighteen-pounders, and about 400 
men, made a gallant resistance ; but, being overpowered by 
numbers, and himself wounded, he and a part of his brave 
band were compelled to surrender themselves prisoners of 
war. 

From Bladensburg, General Ross urged his march to Wash- 
ington, where he arrived at about eight o'clock in the evening. 
Having stationed his main body at the distance of a mile and 
a half from the capitol, he entered the 'city at the head of 
about 700 men, soon after which, he issued his orders for the 
conflagration of the public buildings. With the capitol were 
consumed its valuable libraries, and all the furniture and 
articles of taste and value in that and in the other buildings. 
The great bridge across the Potomac was burnt, together 
with an elegant hotel, and other private buildings. 



1814.] THE LATE WAR. 591 



CHAPTER XX. 

Attack on Baltimore by Ross — Gallantry of the Americans — Overpowered by 
Numbers — Retreat — Americans entrenched two Miles from Baltimore — Enemy 
appear next Morning after the Battle — Abandon the Idea of taking the City as im- 
practicable. 

" But undauntedly fly to the scene of commotion, 
To fight for their rights, till they die or prevail." 

The capture of Washington was followed, September 12th, 
by an attack on Baltimore, in which the American forces, 
militia, and inhabitants of Baltimore, made a gallant defence. 
Being, however, overpowered by a superior force, they were 
compelled to retreat ; but they fought so valiantly, that the 
attempt to gain possession of the city was abandoned by the 
enemy, who, during the night of Tuesday, 13th, retired to 
their shipping, having lost, among their killed. General Ross, 
the commander-in-chief of the British troops. Having made 
this general statement, we will now proceed to detail more 
particularly the operations of the enemy in this unsuccessful 
expedition. 

The British army, after the capture of Washington, having 
re-embarked on board the fleet in the Pawtuxent, Admiral 
Cochrane moved down the river, and proceeded up the Chesa- 
peake. On the morning of the 11th of September, he ap- 
peared at the mouth of the Patapsco, fourteen miles from 
Baltimore, with a fleet of ships of war and transports, amount- 
ing to fifty sail. 

On the next day, 12th, land forces, to the number of 6000, 
were landed at North Point, and, under the command of Ge- 
neral Ross, commenced their march towards the city. In 
anticipation of the landing of the troops. General Strieker 
was despatched with 3200 men from Baltimore, to keep the 
enemy in check. 

On the I2th, a battle was fought by the two armies. Early 
in the engagement, a considerable part of General Strieker's 
troops retreated in confusion, leaving him scarcely 1400 men, 
to whom was opposed the whole body of the enemy. An in- 



592 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1814. 



cessant fire was continued from half-past two o'clock, till a 
little before four, when General Strieker, finding the contest 
unequal, and that the enemy outflanked him, retreated upon 
his reserve, which was eflfected in good order. The loss of 
the Americans, in killed and wounded, amounted to 163, 
among whom were some of the most respectable citizens of 
Baltimore. 

The enemy made his appearance the next morning in front 
of the American entrenchments, at a distance of two miles 
from the city, showing an intention of renewing the attack. 

In the meantime, an attack was made on fort M'Henry, 
from frigates, bombs, and rocket-vessels, which continued 
through the day and the greater part of the night, doing, 
however, but little damage. 

In the course of the night of Tuesday, Admiral Cochrane 
held a communication with the commander of the land forces, 
and the enterprise of taking the city being deemed imprac- 
ticable, the troops were re-embarked, and the next day the 
fleet descended the bay, to the great joy of the released inha- 
bitants. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Capture of a British Squadron on Lake Champlain by Macdonough — Battle lasts 
several Hours — Three Galleys sunk — Battle at Plattsburg in sight of that on the 
Lake — Americans victorious by Land and Water— Last Operations of the Enemy 
in that Quarter. 

" Fame, let thy trumpet sound, 
Tell all the world around." 

" By hard fighting, sir." 

While the southern States were thus experiencing the 
calamities of an aggravated and relentless hostility, another 
portion of the Union had been invaded by the enemy, under 
circumstances very unfavourable to the cause of the republic. 
The peace of Europe had placed at the disposal of the British 
government a large and formidable army, with which it was 
enabled to attempt schemes of conquest and destruction, more 



1814.] THE LATE WAR. 593 

extensive than any it had yet conceived. The first step in 
its new plans was apparently to obtain the command of lake 
Champlain, and thence to move down the Hudson, thus divid- 
ing the eastern section from the rest of the Union, while the 
discontent so strongly manifested in the New England States 
would, it was hoped, lead also to a political division. The 
expected reinforcements arrived in the months of July and 
August, and as soon as they were organized, it was deter- 
mined to lead them on the expedition. On the 3d of Septem- 
ber, Sir George Prevost, at the head of 14,000 regular troops, 
crossed the American frontier, and took possession of the vil- 
lage of Champlain, intending thence to proceed to the attack 
of Plattsburg, while the British squadron should at the same 
time engage that of the Americans on the lake. 

The march of General Izard to Sackett's Harbour had left 
Plattsburg undefended, except by about 1500 regular troops, 
under Brigadier-General Macomb. On the news of the ene- 
my's design, the utmost exertion was made by this officer to 
collect a force of militia, and to put the works thrown up for 
the protection of the place in the best state of defence. By 
the 4th of September, about 1000 militia were collected, part 
of whom were stationed seven miles in advance, to obstruct 
the progress of the enemy. On the 6th, the latter was dis- 
covered approaching, and, after a slight skirmish, the militia 
party retired in confusion. The advance of the British co- 
lumn was, however, considerably retarded by the felling of 
trees, and other means, and General Macomb removed the 
planks of the bridge across the Saranac, on the right bank of 
which his entrenched camp was situated. The enemy having 
made his appearance, his light troops entered the town, and 
annoyed the Americans on the opposite bank, until, by a few 
hot shot, the buildings were set on fire, and several attempts 
to cross on the ruins of the bridges were uniformly repulsed. 
From this period to the 11th, the British commander was 
occupied in throwing up batteries opposite the American lines, 
and General Macomb, on his part, was no less active in 
strengthening his works, and augmenting his force. 

Tl>e operations of Sir George Prevost appear to have 

75 2^* 



594 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1814- 



been retarded by the delay in fitting out the squadron, whose 
co-operation he conceived necessary to the success of an as- 
sault. At length, on the morning of the 11th, the British ves- 
sels appeared in view of Plattsburg. Their fleet consisted of 
the frigate Confiance, of 39 guns, the brig Linnet, of 16, the 
sloops Chub and Finch, of 11 each, and thirteen galleys, 
mounting 18 guns; carrying in all 95 guns, and about 1000 
men, and was commanded by Captain Downie. The American 
squadron was anchored in the bay of Plattsburg, and carried 
in all 86 guns, and about 800 men. It was commanded by 
Commodore Macdonough, and consisted of the Saratoga, of 
26 guns, the Eagle, of 20, the Ticonderoga, of 17, the Preble, 
of 7, and ten galleys, mounting 16 guns. At nine in the 
morning, the British commodore, in the Confiance, anchored 
abreast of the Saratoga, at a distance of three hundred yards ; 
and the remaining vessels of his squadron took their stations 
opposite to those of the Americans. The engagement then 
commenced. After a fire of two hours. Commodore Macdo- 
nough, finding that the superior force of the Confiance had 
crippled most of the guns on the starboard side of his vessel, 
resolved to wind her round and open a fresh fire. This diffi- 
cult manoeuvre was performed with success, and the Confi- 
ance, being unable to effect the same operation, soon after- 
wards surrendered. The brig and sloops followed the same 
fate ; three of the galleys were sunk, and the rest escaped. 
This glorious and memorable victory was gained with little 
comparative destruction of life. The killed and wounded of 
the Americans amounted to 110; of the British, 84 were 
killed, including Captain Downie, and 110 wounded. Being 
asked by the British commander how he gained the battle, 
he answered, '^By hard fighting, sir." 

The attack of the American batteries commenced at the 
same moment with the naval engagement. Repeated attempts 
were made, under cover of a heavy bombardment, to force a 
passage of the river, in each of which the assailants were 
repulsed with great loss. The surrender of the fleet, which 
was announced by the shouts of victory from the American 
lines, induced the British commander to withdraw his troops 



1814.] THE LATE WAR. 595 

from the contest. At two in the morning of the 12th, the 
whole British army precipitately retreated, leaving their sick 
and wounded behind, and reached Chazy, eight miles distant, 
before their flight was discovered. Upwards of 500 deserters 
soon afterwards came in, and their whole loss was supposed, 
by General Macomb, to be about 2500 ; that of the Ameri- 
cans was only 99. Such was the issue of this powerful ex- 
pedition, the last operation undertaken by the enemy in that 
quarter. The double victory of the army and navy raised 
the hopes, and exalted the reputation of the American people, 
and had a powerful eifect upon the issue of the negotiations 
then pending between the two countries. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

General Jackson proceeds to New Orleans — Great Display of mental Energy — 
The Militia of Kentucky and Tennessee are hastened onward to defend the City — 
Fortifications thrown up — Negroes compelled to work — Martial Law proclaimed 
— American Lines on both Sides of the Mississippi — Destruction of the Schooner 
GaroUne — The great Battle of New Orleans, on the Eighth of January — Ameri- 
cans gain a glorious Victory and save New Orleans. 

" Justum et tenacem propositi virum — 
Si fractus illabatur orbis, 
Improvidum ferient Ruince.^^ 

" The man resolved, and steady to his trust, 
Inflexible to ill, and obstinately just; 



From orbs convulsed should all the planets fly, 
World crush on world, and ocean mix with sky ; 
He, unconcera'd, would view the falling whole, 
And still maintain the purpose of his soul." 

Another brilliant series of events remains to be recorded 
before we terminate the narration of military operations. In 
the extreme south, as well as on the remote northern frontier, 
a ray of glory was shed on the closing scenes of war, and 
a fresh lesson inculcated of the strength and power of a free 



596 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1814. 



people contending against the invaders of their soil. After 
the conclusion of the contest with the Creeks, General Jack- 
son fixed his head-quarters at Mobile, where he received in- 
formation that about 300 British troops, under Colonel 
Nicholls, had arrived at Pensacola, and that an additional 
force of thirteen sail of the line, and 10,000 men, were daily 
expected. With his characteristic promptitude, he immedi- 
ately made an additional call on the people of Tennessee, and 
took efficient measures to prepare for defence. The entrance 
of the bay of Mobile is defended by fort Bowyer, which was 
at that time garrisoned by 120 men of the 2d infantry, under 
Major Lawrence. On the 15th of September, Colonel Ni- 
cholls appeared, with four vessels of war, off the port, and 
soon afterwards landed' a body of 300 men, composed of regu- 
lars and Indians. An attack was commenced at the same 
time by land and water ; but, after a cannonade of three 
hours, the British vessels were compelled to retreat, and the 
commodore's frigate was so much disabled, that she drifted 
on shore, where she was set on fire and abandoned by her 
crew, only 20 of whom, out of 170, escaped. The troops 
retreated by land to Pensacola. 

The government of Florida, having thus suffered its neutral 
territory to be violated, for the purpose of inflicting an injury 
on the United States, General Jackson resolved to demand 
satisfaction. He therefore marched from Mobile with a body 
of Tennessee volunteers, 2000 of whom had recently joined 
him, some regulars, and a few Choctaw Indians; and, having 
arrived in the vicinity of Pensacola on the 6th of November, 
he sent a flag, which was fired on and forced to return. He 
now determined to take possession of a place which had been 
so long made use of by the enemies of the republic to its an- 
noyance. Early on the 7th, the troops were put in motion. 
The American encampment being to the west, it was sup- 
posed the attack would be made in that quarter, and accord- 
ingly the chief preparations of defence were made by the 
British and Spaniards on that side. The main body of the 
Americans, however, were directed to an opposite point, and 
the garrison, being completely surprised, were soon driven 



1814.] THE LATE WAR. 597 

from their positions ; capitulation was then signed, by which 
Pensacola and the different fortresses were surrendered to the 
United States. The fort, called the Barrancas, which com- 
manded the entrance of the bay, remained yet to be taken 
possession of. General Jackson was about marching his army 
for this purpose, when intelligence was received of its de- 
struction by the British troops, who, with their shipping, then 
evacuated the bay. The government of the United States 
had not authorized the re-construction of them, and General 
Jackson soon afterwards returned to Mobile. 

While at Mobile, intelligence was received that a formi- 
dable expedition was preparing for the invasion of Louisiana, 
and General Jackson proceeded immediately to New Orleans. 
Here abundant occasion was offered for the exercise of his 
varied talents, and the display of his mental energy. This 
important city was not properly defended at any one of the 
points from which it might be assailed ; its population was 
various, disunited, apprehensive, and discontented ; many had 
refused to comply with the militia draft, and even the legis- 
lative assembly was not free from the spirit of disaffection. 
In this state of things, the most decided and efficient measures 
were necessary, and General Jackson was not slow in adopt- 
ing them. The defences of the Mississippi were strengthened ; 
the inlets or bayous to the east were obstructed; the militia 
of Kentucky and Tennessee, who had been ordered out by 
the government, were hastened in their progress, and the pa- 
triotism of the people aroused by every means in his power. 

At length, early in December, a fleet of sixty sail of vessels 
was discovered off the Ship island. A naval force of five gun- 
boats, under Lieutenant Jones, had been collected on the lakes 
east of the town, which it was supposed would be able suc- 
cessfully to defend the narrow inlet ; and now, on the news of 
the enemy's approach, Lieutenant Jones made sail for the 
passes of the lake Pontchartrain. Here, on the 13th, he was 
attacked by the enemy's barges, to the number of forty-three, 
with upwards of 1000 men, and, after a gallant defence of an 
hour, was compelled to surrender. The capture of these ves- 
sels having given the enemy the entire command of the ap- 



598 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1814. 

proaches to New Orleans in that quarter, General Jackson 
redoubled his vigilance and exertions. The militia of the city 
was called out en masse ; an embargo was laid on the vessels 
in the harbour ; the negroes were impressed and compelled to 
work on the fortifications ; and, soon afterwards, martial law 
was proclaimed. These strong and unusual measures, which 
nothing but the urgency of the case could have justified, led 
probably to the salvation of New Orleans. 

Most of the bayous and canals leading to the Mississippi, 
had been obstructed or guarded with care. One, called the 
bayou Bienvenu, being little known, was unfortunately left 
open and undefended, except by a picket-guard. On the 22d, 
the enemy came suddenly on the American detachment, sur- 
prised them, and having pushed rapidly, reached the bank of 
the river by two o'clock in the afternoon. General Jackson, 
who had been joined the preceding day by 4000 Tennessee 
militia, under General Carrol, resolved immediately on attack- 
ing them. With about 2000 men, consisting of General Cof- 
fee's brigade of militia, a small body of regulars, and the city 
volunteers, with a detachment of artillery, he marched in 
the afternoon of the 22d, leaving General Carrol's force, and 
the city militia, to defend the Gentilly road. 

The left of the enemy's line resting on the river, General 
Jackson ordered the armed schooner Caroline to take a station 
from which a fire could be advantageously opened upon it, at 
the same moment that the attack should be made by the land 
forces. This plan was put in execution about seven in the 
evening. The brigade of General CoflTee rushed impetuously 
on the British right, while General Jackson, with the remain- 
der of the forces, assailed their left, and the battery of the 
Caroline was directed with considerable effect. The enemy, 
although taken by surprise, soon formed, and withstood the 
assault with bravery. A thick fog arising, the American 
commander withdrew his troops, and, at four in the morning, 
retired to a strong position near the city. His loss in this 
short engagement was 24 killed, 115 wounded, and 74 miss- 
ing. That of the British was, in all, 213. 

The American troops were now earnestly employed in 



1815.] THE LATE WAR. 599 



strengthening the position taken by General Jackson, after the 
affair of the 23d. These lines, which subsequent events have 
rendered memorable, were on both banks of the Mississippi. 
That on the left was nearly straight, about one thousand yards 
in length, with a parapet, and a ditch containing five feet 
of water, extending on the right to the river, and on the left 
to a thick and impervious wood. On the right bank, was a 
heavy battery of fifteen cannon, which enfiladed the advance 
to the lines on the left. In the meantime, the enemy had 
been reinforced by the main body of the army, and a large 
train of artillery, under Sir Edward Packenham, the com- 
mander-in-chief of the expedition. Having previously de- 
stroyed the schooner Caroline, by a battery erected for the 
purpose, the whole British army was marched up the levee 
on the 28th, and, at the distance of half a mile, began a furi- 
ous attack, with rockets and bombs. The fire from the Ame- 
rican lines was. however, directed with so much more preci- 
sion, thai the British general drew off his troops with some 
loss. At daylight, on the 1st of January, the cannonade was 
renewed from the batteries erected by the enemy, near the 
American lines, while, at the same time, a bold attack was 
made on General Jackson's left, which ended in the repulse 
of the assailants. In the evening, they retired from their 
batteries, leaving behind a considerable quantity of warlike 
munitions. 

Shortly after this event, both armies received an accession 
of strength ; that of General Jackson, by the arrival of 2500 
Kentuckians, under General Adair, and the invaders by Ge- 
neral Lambert, with 4000 men. The American troops now 
consisted of about 8000 men, many of whom were badly 
armed ; the British were in number not less than 10,000, 
mostly veterans, and provided with every necessary article 
of war. Preparatory to the grand assault of the lines, it was 
necessary for the British commander to obtain possession of 
the batteries on the right bank, which the want of boats pre- 
vented his reaching. With great labour, he at length suc- 
ceeded in cutting a canal from the bayou to the Mississippi, 
by which he was enabled to transport his boats to the river. 



600 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1815. 



This operation was completed on the 7th, and the next morn- 
ing fixed for the assault, which was to take place on both 
banks at the same time. 

The 8th of January will long be memorable in the annals 
of the American republic. The preservation of an important 
city from plunder and violation ; the defeat and destruction 
of the most powerful army that ever landed on the American 
shores, by a band of undisciplined militia — such were the con- 
sequences of the events of this day. Having detached a 
strong party to the right bank, under Colonel Thornton, the 
British commander moved early in the morning with his re- 
maining force to the assault, in two divisions, under Generals 
Gibbs and Keen, the reserve being commanded by General 
Lambert. When they arrived within reach of the batteries, 
a heavy cannonade was opened, and as they approached 
nearer, a stream of well-directed fire from the unerring rifles 
of the militia, carried destruction into their ranks. After 
vainly attempting to advance, the assailants broke and fled in 
confusion. A second time did they approach the ditch, with 
equal ill success. A third attempt was made to bring them 
to the charge, but such was the havoc made among their offi- 
cers, and in their ranks, that nothing could induce them to 
return. Their commander-in-chief had been killed ; Generals 
Keen and Gibbs were severely wounded, and the plain was 
strewed with the dead and dying. In this state of things, 
General Lambert, upon whom the command had devolved, 
determined to give up the contest, and, collecting together 
the remains of his army, returned to camp. The attack on 
the right bank had in the meantime been made, and was 
attended with greater success. The body of undisciplined 
militia by which it was defended, had ingloriously fled, through 
fear of being outflanked, and the enemy quickly obtained pos- 
session of their works. The defeat on the left bank, however, 
left the enemy little disposition to profit by this advantage ; 
and a stratagem of General Jackson induced him to abandon 
it. General Lambert having proposed an armistice, the pro- 
posal was agreed to by the American commander, with a con- 
dition that it should not extend to the right bank, to which no 



1815.] THE LATE WAR. 601 

reinforcements should be sent by either party. Deceived by 
this reservation, w^hich led him to suppose that the Americans 
had been reinforced in that quarter, General Lambert with- 
drew his troops, and the lines were immediately re-occupied 
by General Jackson. Never, perhaps, was a victory gained 
with a greater disproportion of loss than on this occasion. 
Of the Americans, only 7 were killed and 6 wounded ; while 
of the enemy, upwards of 2000, including almost all their 
general officers, were killed, wounded or prisoners. The pa- 
triot is often compelled to weep over the carnage by which 
his country has been delivered from foreign invasion ; but how 
exquisite is his gratification, when that holy end is effected 
with little bloodshed, and when, in the beautiful language of 
the defender of New Orleans, " Not a cypress leaf is inter- 
woven with the wreath of triumph." The loss of human life 
is always to be regretted ; but humanity itself must cease to 
lament, when those whose purpose is violation, plunder, and 
destruction, perish in the attempt to effect their object. 

The enemy had been equally unsuccessful in his endeavour 
to force a passage up the Mississippi. A part of the British 
fleet entered that river, and anchored opposite fort St. Philip, 
on which they commenced a cannonade on the 9th of January, 
which was continued until the 17th, when, finding that no 
impression was made, they gave up the contest and retired 
frona the river. From this place, they proceeded to Mobile 
bay, where the remainder of the fleet had assembled, with 
the troops of General Lambert, which had re-fcnioai.ted after 
their repulse from New Orleans. Fort Bowyer was invested 
by this formidable force on the 18th of February, and sur- 
rendered on the 11th of March. The garrison, to the num- 
ber of 366, were made prisoners of war. The news of peace, 
which arrived soon after this event, put a period to all further 
hostility. 

The following is from a number of Niles' Register, issued 
on the arrival of part of the glad tidings of the victory at 
New Orleans : 

"Advance our waving colours on the walls.' 
Rescued is Orleans from the English wolves." 
_ _ 



602 THE ARMY AND NAVY. [1815. 



ll 



" Glorious JVews from New Orleans. 

" Glory be to God, that the barbarians have been defeated, 
and that, at Orleans, the intended plunderers have found 
their grave ! — Glory to Jackson, Carrol, and Coffee, and the 
hardy and gallant Tennesseeans, Kentuckians and Louisiani- 
ans, who * seized opportunity by the forelock' to ' demonstrate' 
what freemen can do in defence of their altars and firesides. 
Glory to the militia, that the ' soldiers of Wellington,' the 
boastful conquerors of the legions of France, have shrunk 
from the liberty-directed bullets of the high-souled sons of the 
west ! Sons of freedom — saviours of Orleans — benefactors of 
your country and avengers of its wrongs, all hail ! Hail, glo- 
rious people — worthy, thrice worthy, to enjoy the blessings 
which Heaven, in bounteous profusion, has heaped on your 
country ! Never may its luxuriant soil be trodden unrevenged 
by insolent foreigners in arms !" 

The news of the victory of New Orleans was soon followed 
by that of a treaty of peace, which was signed at Ghent, on 
the 24th of December, 1814. On the 17th of February, this 
treaty was ratified by the President and Senate. 

The Dey of Algiers, who had committed many depreda- 
tions on our commerce, was soon after brought to his senses, 
by a terrible castigation which he received from our naval 
heroes. In this war, Commodore Decatur showed himself 
one of the greatest naval warriors that any age or country 
erer produced. 



THE FLORIDA WAR. 603 



PAET V. 
THE FLORIDA WAR. 



CHAPTER I. 

Character of the War — Distinguished Officers engaged in it — Indian Council — 
Sketches showing the general Character of the Fighting in Florida. 

"Austere remembrance of the deed will hang 
Upon its delicate spirit like a cloud, 
And tinge its world of happy images 
With hues of horror." 

The Florida war consisted in the killing of Indians, because 
they refused to leave their native home — to hunt them amid 
the forests and swamps, from which they frequently issued to 
attack the intruders. To go or not to go, that was the ques- 
tion ; and although it was unjust on the part of our govern- 
ment to drive the original occupants from their homes, yet the 
officers engaged in that war are not responsible for such in- 
justice, as they did their duty in obeying the government. 
Among these, the most conspicuous are Generals Scott, Jessup, 
Gaines, Clinch, Worth, &c. Many a brave man lost his life 
and now sleeps beneath the sod of Florida. And yet neither 
these nor the heroes who exposed themselves there to so 
many dangers and sufferings, could acquire any military glory 
in such a war. For this reason, even if our space would ad- 
mit of it, we should not enter into a detail of the campaigns, 
as they would be dull and uninteresting. — And now to the 
Indians. 

It would seem very doubtful from the following proceedings 
in a council held at fort King, whether it was the determina- 
tion of some of the chiefs, who were now hostile, to persist 



604 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

in their opposition to removal, provided they could be so far 
separated from the influence of the Creek councils as to leave 
them in the enjoyment of their hereditary possessions ; or that 
the President would allow them a separate agent, to watch 
over their interests and protect them from the encroachments 
of other tribes : for it is obvious that their greatest objections 
to leaving Florida have been based upon the liability of losing 
their slaves when they should have removed to the new coun- 
try. In all their councils, this subject has been discussed, 
over and over again, and again reiterated even to the last 
day : recommendation after recommendation has followed 
from agents and friends of the government, but these solici- 
tations have been responded to by the cry of " economy." 
" Economy in the administration of our government is the 
order of the day ;" and thus the sacred rights of the Indian 
have been bartered away in the endeavours of the govern- 
ment to preserve the vain boasting of " retrenchment and 
reform." 

This council was convened, on the 19th day of August, 
1835, at the request of the undernamed chiefs, and sub-chiefs, 
and the talk was delivered in the presence of several of the 
officers stationed at fort King. 

Kolata Amathla, Yaha Fixico, 

Charley Amathla, Emathlochee, 

Fucta Lusta Hajo, Acola Hajo, 

Conhatkee Mico, Tustinuc Yaha, 

Otulkee Amathla, Powshaila, 

Coa Hajo, Albartu Hajo, 

Foshatchee Mico, Cochattee Fixico, 

Tustenuggee Hajo, Ochee Hajo, 

Billy Hicks, Cheti Haiola, 

Assiola, Cosa Tustenuggee, 

Billy John, Tokosa Fixico, ' 

Cosatchee Amathla, Conchattee. 
Yaha Amathla, 

Kolata Amathla was then requested by the chiefs to address 
the officers, and make known to their great father, through 



THE FLORIDA WAR. 605 



them, the object of their visit ; after a short silence he com- 
menced : — 

" My Friends : — We have come to see you and talk with 
you on a subject of great interest to us. We want you to 
open your ears to us and tell our great father, the President, 
the words his children speak. 

" We made a treaty at Payne's Landing to go to the west ; 
we were told to send some of our principal chiefs to examine 
the country, and if they approved of it, that the treaty should 
be complete ; they went and found the country good. Whilst 
there, they had a talk with General Stokes and the commis- 
sioners ; they were told that the Seminoles and Creeks were 
of the same family ; were to be considered as the same na- 
tion ; and placed under the Seminoles were a large nation, 
and should have their own agent as before ; that if our father, 
the President, would give us our own agent, our own black- 
smith, and our ploughs, we would go to this new country ; 
but if he did not, we should be unwilling to remove ; that we 
should be amongst strangers ; they might be friendly or they 
might be hostile to us, and we wanted our own agent, whom 
we knew, who would be our friend, who would take care of 
us, would do us justice, and see justice done us by others. 

" The commissioners replied, that our wishes were reason- 
able, and that they would do all that they could to induce our 
great father to grant them. Our lands at the west are sepa- 
rated from those of the Creeks by the Canadian, a great river ; 
and we think the Creeks should have their agent on one side, 
and we ours on the other. 

" We have been unfortunate in the agents our father has 
sent us. General Thompson, our present agent, is the friend 
of the Seminoles ; we thought at first that he would be like 
the others, but we know better now ; he has but one talk, and 
what he tells us is the truth ; we want him to go with us ; he 
told us he could not go, but he at last agreed to do so, if our 
great father will permit him ; we know our father loves his red 
children, and will not let them suffer for want of a good agent. 
This is our talk, which we want you to send to our father, the 
President, hoping that we may receive an early answer." 



3a* 



606 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



The council then adjourned. Those to whom this speech 
was addressed, deemed it incumbent on them to disclose their 
opinions upon a subject which appeared to be, in the Indian's 
estimation, so vastly important ; and they accordingly an- 
nexed the following, signed by nine of the officers : 

" The undersigned beg leave to be excused for expressing 
their opinion on the foregoing proceedings. The subject of a 
separate agency has been an engrossing and all-important one 
with the Seminoles ; they attach to it a consideration which, 
perhaps, it does not merit ; but we are persuaded that its con- 
cession to them will be attended with the happiest results : it 
will confirm those who are already friendly, and be the means 
of conciliating others who are hostile, or at least neutral. 
Under this view of the case, we cheerfully unite with the 
foregoing chiefs, that General Wiley Thompson be appointed 
their resident agent. 

" In justice to General Thompson, we feel called upon to 
say, that he has done everything in his power to dissuade 
the Indians from the course they have pursued in this matter ; 
he assured them that they would have at the west an agent 
who would do them justice, and protect them in their rights j 
and, further, that it was an appointment he did not solicit, 
but could not reject, if, by accepting it, he could advance their 
interests and facilitate their future operations." 

This document was forwarded to the Secretary of War, by 
General Clinch, with the following pertinent remarks : — 

" In forwarding to you the enclosed document, I beg leave 
to make a few remarks, although the subject to which it re- 
lates is, itself, of no great importance, yet it may have an 
important bearing on the present quiet and future happiness 
of these children of the forest. They are, from peculiar cir- 
cumstances and long habit, suspicious of the white man. It 
is hard to induce them to believe that all the efforts and ope- 
rations of the government are intended for their own good. 
The question of a separate agency was again and again 
brought forward by the chiefs last winter and spring, and 
appeared to be considered by them of the first importance to 
their future interest, prosperity and happiness ; and it was at 



THE FLORIDA WAR. ()07 



the earnest and repeated solicitations of the chiefs, Lieutenant 
Harris and myself consented to incorporate their wishes on 
that subject in the arrangement made with them in April 
last. Great pains have been taken to convince them, that the 
agent for the Creeks west of the Mississippi would watch 
over and protect them and their interests, in common with 
that of the Creeks, but I fear without effect. It is a law of 
nature for the weak to be suspicious of the strong. They say 
that the Creeks are much more numerous and powerful than 
they are ; that there is a question of property, involving the 
right to a great many negroes, to be settled between them and 
the Creeks; and they are afraid that justice will not be done 
them, unless they can have a separate agent to watch over 
and protect their interests. The manly and straight-forward 
course pursued towards them by General Thompson, appears 
to have gained him their confidence, and they have again pe- 
titioned the President to make him their agent, and have re- 
quested me, through the immediate commanding officer at 
fort King, to forward their petition, with such remarks as my 
long acquaintance with their views and interests would au- 
thorize me to make. The experiment they are about to make 
is one of the deepest interest to them. They are leaving the 
birth-place of their wives and children, and many of them 
the graves of those they held most dear ; and is it not natural 
that they should feel, and feel deeply, on such a trying occa- 
sion, and wish to have some one they had previously known, 
whom they could lean on, and look up to for protection V 

This earnest and pathetic appeal to the government having 
been answered by a negative, the Indians prepared for war. 

By giving a few sketches of battles, the reader may form 
as good an idea of the character of this war as if he would 
nod his way through a whole volume on the subject. We 
give those sketches accordingly. 

On the 20th of December, 1835, Colonels Parish and Reed, 
at the head of about 100 men, from Leon and Gadsden coun- 
ties, took up a line of march for the purpose of reconnoitring 
the battle-ground of the 18th, and gathering the remains of 
the baggage, &c. When near the place, they discovered the 



608 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



house of a Mr. Hogan on fire, and the Indians about leaving 
it. On the arrival of the advance-guard at the house, a party 
of 27 of the Seminoles kept them amused until the main body 
came up, when they retreated to a small hammock, which 
was quickly surrounded by the troops, leaving them no chance 
of escape. Both of the brave colonels rushed into the ham- 
mock at the head of a detachment, and, in less than fifteen 
minutes, killed all but four of the enemy. The whites had 
four very severely wounded in this engagement. 

Three of the hostile party came into the camp of the friendly 
Indians, near fort Brooke, on the evening of the 22d of De- 
cember, for the purpose, they said, of delivering a talk from 
Micanopy, of a pacific or neutral character. Whilst engaged 
in full council with Kolata Amathla and the other chiefs and 
warriors, Major Belton was informed of the circumstance, 
and he ordered them to be detained and carried to the fort. 
When they found themselves ensnared, they no longer con- 
cealed their true character. Finding it necessary to commu- 
nicate with General Clinch, then at fort King, Major Belton 
sent the youngest and best runner with a letter, which, being 
upon the subject of the premeditated attack of the 31st of 
December, involved many details. To guard against trea- 
chery, as the road passed through Abraham's lands. Major 
Belton stated numbers and other material facts in French. 
Two days beyond the time allowed, the messenger returned 
to fort Brooke, bringing a talk from Hitchiti Mico and Abra- 
ham, stating that his (Major Belton's) talk was good, and that 
he might expect them on the 30th. It was then evident that 
the Indians had intercepted the letter, and were well aware 
of the intended attack. 

Major Dade was present at the council of the warriors on 
that evening, and the proceedings being interpreted to him, 
he expressed every confidence in Indian character, and his 
conviction of the sincerity which governed the friendly chiefs ; 
he also believed that Abraham, a domestic of Micanopy, had 
great influence over his chief. 

The expected reinforcement of 39 men from Key West, 
with the gallant Brevet-Major Dade, having arrived on the 



THE FLORIDA WAR. 609 



21st, no time was lost in preparing the two companies, ordered 
by General Clinch, on the IGth, to form a junction with the 
forces at fort King. Accordingly, at six o'clock A. M., of the 
24th, Captain Gardiner's company C, 2d artillery, and Cap- 
tain Fraser's company B, 3d infantry, making fifty bayonets 
each, with eight officers, taking with them ten days' provi- 
sions, one six-pounder, drawn by four oxen, and one light one- 
horse wagon, were placed in the line of march for that post, 
under command of Captain Gardiner. 

In the chain of events, it may not be amiss to notice the 
change which occurred in the command of this ill-fated de- 
tachment, since it shows the noble and generous impulses of 
his heart, and is so perfectly characteristic of Major Dade. 
From his company A, 4th infantry, amounting to 39 men, the 
two companies of Captains Fraser and Gardiner were made 
up. Captain Gardiner's lady was exceedingly ill, and it was 
much feared that if he then left her she would die. He how- 
ever made every preparation for a start, and was present at 
reveille on the morning of the 24th, and mounted his horse in 
front of the detachment. At this juncture, Major Dade vol- 
untarily proposed to Major Belton, the commanding officer at 
the post, that he (Dade) should take Captain Gardiner's place. 
The proposition was immediately accepted, and the command 
moved on. Before they had proceeded far, Captain Gardiner 
ascertained that the transport schooner Motto was on the eve 
of leaving for Key West, where Mrs. Gardiner's father and 
children were ; he concluded to place Mrs. Gardiner on board 
the vessel, and gratify his wishes by going with his company. 
He soon after joined it, but the peculiar relation in which he 
now stood to Major Dade, induced him to let the latter con- 
tinue in command. 

The oxen which drew the field-piece having broken down 
when only four miles from fort Brooke, the command pro- 
ceeded to a branch of the Hillsborough river, six miles from 
the fort, and there encamped for the night ; from that place, 
Major Dade sent an express to Major Belton, and requested 
him to forward the field-piece as soon as possible. Horses 
were, therefore, immediately purchased, and the piece reached 



610 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



the column that night about nine o'clock. Taking up the line 
of march, on the morning of the 25th, they reached the Hills- 
borough river, but found the bridge had been burnt and de- 
stroyed, and they encamped there until morning. The diffi- 
culty of crossing here retarded their movements very much, 
and on the 26th, they made but six miles. On the 27th, they 
crossed the Big and Little Ouithlacoochee rivers, and en- 
camped about three miles north of the latter branch. Up to 
this time Major Dade, being aware that the enemy was con- 
tinually watching his movements, had adopted every precau- 
tion against surprise or attack at night, by throwing up a 
small breastwork. Early on the morning of the 28th, the ill- 
fated party were again in motion, and when about four miles 
from their last camp, the advanced-guard passed a plat of 
high grass, and, having reached a thick cluster of palmettos, 
about fifty yards beyond the grass, a very heavy and destruc- 
tive fire was opened upon them by the unseen enemy, at a 
distance of fifty or sixty yards, which literally mowed them 
down, and threw the main column into the greatest confusion. 
Soon recovering, however, on observing the enemy rise in 
front of them, they made a charge, and plied their fire so un- 
erringly, that the Indians gave way, but not until muskets 
were clubbed, knives and bayonets were used, and the com- 
batants were clinched; they were finally driven off to a con- 
siderable distance. Major Dade having fallen dead on the 
first fire, the command devolved upon Captain Gardiner, and 
as he discovered the Indians gathering again about half a mile 
off, he directed a breastwork to be thrown up for their pro- 
tection ; but the enemy allowed them so little time, that it 
was necessarily very low (only two and a half feet high) and 
imperfect. The Indians being reinforced, and having stationed 
about a hundred of their mounted warriors on the opposite 
side to cut off retreat, they slowly and cautiously advanced 
to a second attack, yelling and whooping in so terrific a man- 
ner as to drown the reports of the fire-arms. The troops soon 
began to make their great gun speak, which at first kept the 
enemy at bay, but soon surrounding the little breastwork, 
they shot down every man who attempted to work the gun, 



THE FLORIDA WAR. Gil 



SO that it was rendered almost useless to them. One by one 
these brave and heroic men fell by each other's side in the 
gallant execution of their duty to their country. Being 
obliged, by the inelfhcient breastwork, to lay down to load and 
fire, the poor fellows laboured under great disadvantages, as, 
in the haste with which the work was constructed, they se- 
lected the lowest spot about that part, and consequently gave 
the enemy double the advantage over them. Major Dade and 
his horse, and Captain Fraser, with nearly every man of the 
advanced-guard, fell dead on the first volley, besides a number 
of the main column. Lieutenant Mudge received a mortal 
wound the first fire, and, on gaining the breastwork, breathed 
his last. Lieutenant Keayes had both arms broken, also, on 
the first attack ; and one of the men bound them up with a 
handkerchief and placed him against a tree near the breast- 
work, where he was soon after tomahawked by a negro. 
Lieutenant Henderson received a severe wound in the left 
arm, but he heroically stuck to the fight, and fired thirty or 
forty shots before he died. Dr. Gatlin posted himself behind 
a log in the centre of the work, and exclaimed that he had 
four barrels for them ; but, poor fellow, he soon ceased to use 
them, as he was shot early in the second attack. Towards 
the close of the battle, poor Gardiner received his death-shot 
in the breast, outside of the enclosure, and fell close to Lieu- 
tenant Mudge ; the command of the little party then fell on 
Lieutenant Bassinger, who observed, on seeing Captain Gar- 
diner fall, " I am the only officer left, boys; we must do the 
best we can." He continued at his post about an hour after 
Gardiner's death, when he received a shot in the thigh, which 
brought him down. Shortly after this, their ammunition gave 
out, and the Indians broke into the enclosure ; and every man 
being either killed, or so badly wounded as to be unable to 
make resistance, they took off their fire-arms and whatever else 
would be of service to them, and retreated. Some time after 
the Indians left, the negroes came inside of the breastwork, 
and began to mutilate the bodies of those who showed the 
least signs of life, when Bassinger sprang upon his feet and 
implored them to spare him ; they heeded not his supplica- 



612 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



tions, but struck him down with their hatchets, cut open his 
breast, and tore out his heart and lungs ; such is the report 
of Clarke, the only survivor. However, I must confess that 
the appearance of the body on the 20th of February did not 
seem to indicate that such violence had been committed on 
him, although one of the slain (a private) was found in a 
truly revolting condition — a part of his body had been cut off 
and crammed into his mouth ! The negroes stripped all the 
officers, and some of the men, of their clothing, but left many 
valuables upon their persons, which were discovered, upon 
exammation, by Major Mountfort, of General Gaines' com- 
mand, and an account carefully taken by the Major, in order 
to transfer the articles respectively to the relatives of the de- 
ceased. All the military stores were carried off except the 
field-piece, which they spiked and conveyed to a pond. 

Again, at another time and place : orders were issued for 
one-third of the command to remain on watch inside of the 
encampment, while one-third was engaged in strengthening 
the defences ; a detachment of 200 of the Louisiana volun- 
teers, under the expert marksman and most excellent officer, 
Captain Thistle, was detailed for the erection of a block-house 
near the river, while others were engaged in preparing ca- 
noes, &c. Everything went on quietly until about ten o'clock, 
when the working parties were fired upon, and simultane- 
ously a heavy volley of at least one thousand guns poured 
into three sides of the encampment, the one nearest the river 
being the only one not assailed. Numbers of the enemy, 
concealed by the palmettos and small bushes on every side of 
the work, came so near, that they wounded the troops on the 
opposite side of the camp, a distance of two hundred yards. 
Finding that they could not induce the general to leave his 
position, the enemy set fire to the grass and palmettos, with a 
view to burn the breastwork down, but suddenly the wind 
shifted and carried the destruction towards themselves. The 
firing continued with unabated fury for two hours, when the 
enemy retired ; and, as the men were instructed by the gene- 
ral, in person, not to expend their ammunition unless " you 
can see the white of your enemy's eye," it is presumable that 



THE FLORIDA WAR. 613 



their loss must have been heavy. The bugle sounded a re- 
treat, when the working party under Captain Thistle, returned 
to camp without suffering any loss ; but the brave captain 
was of opinion that the enemy suffered very much from his 
little party, they having concealed themselves in the hammock 
until the Indians came up close to them without knowing that 
their enemy was for fighting them in their own way — when 
Captain Thistle ordered " fire," and many were observed to 
fall. The captain is a man of strict veracity, and he assured 
the general he " had a bead upon three." 

The war progressed year after year, until power usurped 
the place oi justice. The strong novf \io\A hy right of con- 
quest, and " The Florida War is ended !" 



3b 



614 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



It 



PAET VI. 
THE CALAMITIES OF WAR. 



" From mortal eyes dark vapours snatch the sun ; 
Fires flash ; the kindred elements rebel ; 
All heaven burns black, and, smouldering, shows more dun 
E'en than the horrible obscure of hell : 
Mid showers of hail, the long, loud thunders yell ; 
Fields float; the leas are drowned ; not boughs alone 

Crash in the rushing blast's sonorous swell. 
But oaks, rocks, hills to their foundation-stone, 
Quake to the roaring storm, or in the whirlwind groan. 

Tasso. 

If the patriot fails, he is pronounced a rebel — if the tyrant 
succeeds, he is a hero ; the splendour of his achievements 
dazzles the world, and hides his sins — the victories alone are 
contemplated, while all that long train of miseries, always 
following war, is soon buried in oblivion. 

We will turn back, for a moment, to where we see king- 
doms, empires, and republics, emerge from the clouds of an- 
tiquity — sail down the stream of time, and gather, along its 
banks, a few facts in confirmation of our position. 

" Behold the ruins of the cities of the Nile," said Arbaces ; 
" their greatness hath perished — they sleep amid ruins — their 
palaces and shrines are tombs — the serpent coils in the grass 
of their streets — the lizard basks in their solitary halls." 
But, before these palaces and shrines became tombs — before 
the serpent coiled in the grass of their streets, and the lizard 
basked in their solitary halls, see where the hostile armies 
approach ; mark the tumult and confusion of the men, the 
shrieking, wailing and lamentations of women and children ; 
witness the horrors of battle — turn your eyes to the gushing 
streams of blood — hark ! the groans of the dying — look upon 
the sublime, yet terrific sight, of the flames rolling over the 
cities like the billows of an ocean of fire ; and where, in its 
wake, dark ruin stalks in all its hideousness. 



THE CALAMITIES OF WAR. 615 

The Grecian States, once so renowned for their arts, arms, 
poetry, and philosophy, while an admiring world was gazing 
on them in astonishment, began to shed the life-blood of each 
other, and fell prostrate into the insatiable hands of foreign 
powers. But what terror and dismay, what struggles, what 
anguish of body and of mind, were endured before these tra- 
gic scenes were enacted ; before her numerous colonies were 
subdued ; before her powerful fleet was overcome ; before her 
ample fortifications were battered down ; before her splendid 
edifices were defaced — destroyed ; before her magnificent 
temples fell, to become immortal in their ruins ; before her 
exquisite statues lay in time-honoured fragments ; what ter- 
rible commotions were felt throughout the land ! Could we 
now hear all the tumultuous uproar of those battles ; could 
we now see all the blood ; could we now hear all the groans 
and shrieks ; could we now feel the pains and terrors occa- 
sioned by all this ruin and desolation, how strongly would we 
support that harmony which the present age is beginning to 
teach ! 

Carthage, the commercial emporium of the world — the 
abode of the wealth of nations — supports a siege until famine 
and despair rage throughout the city. Now the flames rise 
in awful sublimity to the sky — roll like burning mountains 
over the city, sink in a sea of fire, from which dark ruin rises 
to unfurl his flag in triumph. But before the Carthaginians 
leave their homes, and the homes of their fathers, what la- 
mentations, and shrieks, and bowlings, are heard ! Thunder- 
struck with the dreadful necessity, they roll in the dust, they 
rend their clothes, they vent their grief in deep sighs and 
groans — implore for mercy — call down upon their enemies the 
wrath of the avenging gods, but all without effect. 

Go to the coast of Africa now, and ask, with stentorian 
voice, where are the ruins of Carthage ; and echo will answer, 
" where?" Ask the historians of the Punic wars the cause of 
this direful calamity, and they will tell you : " Behold the ter- 
rors and awful calamities of fiendish wars." 

From a few cottages on the Tiber, Rome increased in power 
and splendour — a kingdom — a republic — an empire. Her 
bloody hands grasped and held a world in subjection. The 
wealth of plundered nations flowed into her treasury; and 
while the ill-gotten treasures increased her magnificence, it 
also increased the hatred of her enemies, and the discord 
among her own people. Honour, principle, and every tie that 
adorns the human heart, were often sacrificed in the struggle 
for power. By manifesting her want of sympathy for others, 



616 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



she acknowledged her utter worthlessness of receiving any ; 
and, after rolling over the world her desolating wars, the 
world at length rolled them back again. The barbarians of 
the north pour in with an irresistible power and overwhelm 
the western empire. The disciples of Mahomet burst like an 
ocean on the eastern Roman empire, sweeping away every 
obstacle placed in their way, and rule triumphant. 

Rome originated in discord, increased in discord, attained 
to her height of glory in discord, and fell in discord. 

But before that mighty city was built, what rivers of blood 
were made to flow to obtain the means ; before a world was 
conquered and plundered, what dreadful groans, and wailings 
and lamentations were heard throughout that world ! Before 
every principle of honour, and every tie of the human heart, 
was sacrificed, in her struggle for power, what fierce passion 
created a hell within the heart ; before her tide of desolation 
flowed over a world, to ehh upon herself again, how many 
millions of men were overwhelmed in the ruinous tide ! how 
many thousand cities, the labour of centuries, were reduced 
to shapeless masses of ruins, by the torch of the despoiler ! 
How many millions of widowed mothers, disconsolate daugh- 
ters and sisters, were distracted by the loss of their natural 
protectors, and by the indignities offered by a rude, heartless 
apd mercenary soldiery ! 

" Oh, Rome ! my country ! city of the soul ! 
The orphans of the heart must turn to thee, 
Lone mother of dead empires ! and control, 
In their shut breasts, their pithy misery. 
What are our woes and sufferance'? Come and see 
The cypress, hear the owl, and plod your way 

O'er steps of broken thrones and temples, ye, 
Whose agonies are evils of a day — 
A world is at our feet as fragile as our clay. 

The Niobe of nations ! there she stands, 

Childless and crownless, in her voiceless woe, 
An empty urn within her wither'd hands. 

Whose holy dust was scatter'd long ago ; , 

The Scipios' tomb contains no ashes now ; 
The very sepulchres lie tenantless 

Of their heroic dwellers : dost thou flow, 
Old Tiber ! through a marble wilderness '\ 
Rise, with thy yellow waves, and mantle her distress. 

The Goth, the Christian, time, war, flood, and fire, 

Have dealt upon the seven-hill'd city's pride ; 
She saw her glories star by star expire. 

And up the steep barbarian monarchs ride, 



THE CALAMITIES OP WAR. 617 



Where the car climb'd the capitol ; far and wide 
Temple and tower went down, nor left a site. 

Chaos of ruins! who shall trace the void, 
O'er the dim fragments cast a lunar light, 
And say, ' here was, or is,' where all is doubly night 1" 

Again. Peter the Hermit, hurrying from court to court, in 
Europe, and from castle to castle, and from city to city, set- 
ting forth the importance of taking possession of the holiest 
places, by rescuing them from the hands of a merciless and 
infidel foe, now at Jerusalem. Hear him appeal to the religion 
of one sovereign, to the fears of another, and to the spirit of 
chivalry of them all. See thousands devoting themselves 
blindly to the service of God, as they imagined, by engaging 
in the Crusades. Now mark three hundred thousand men, 
women and children, marching on to a foreign land, without 
order, where they nearly all miserably perish by war. and its 
natural attendants, under such circumstances, pestilence and 
famine ! — Such a scene of horrors no language could paint — 
such terrors and sufferings no imagination can grasp ; and 
yet this was but a small part of the calamities of the Cru- 
sades, which were attended with no good results. 

" 'Tis uproar all ; like tipsy bacchanals 
The crowd to arms precipitately spring ; 
And now are heard fierce cries, seditious calls, 

Shields clash, hoarse trumpets stern defiance fling." 

The dread tocsin is sounded, and the infuriated populace 
of Paris rush through the streets like fiends. War spreads 
its horrors ; all is terror and confusion. The blood of many 
flows through the streets of the capitol — human heads are 
carried in triumph through the streets on bayonets. — Kings 
league against the people who would be free, and desolating 
wars spread over Europe — armies invade every country — 
every family feels the dreadful effects of war, and many 
gloomy years pass away before the kings of Europe succeed 
in re-establishing their divine right. 

" Stop ! — For thy tread is on an empire's dust ! 
An earthquake's spoil is sepulchred below ! 
Is the spot mark'd with no colossal bust? 
Nor column trophied for triumphal show? 
None ; but the moral's truth tells simpler so, 
As the ground was before, thus let it be ; — 

How tnat red rain hath made the harvest grow ! 
And is this all the world has gain'd by thee, 
Thou first and last of fields! king-making victory? 

78 3b* 



618 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 

And Harold stands upon this place of skulls, 

The grave of France, the deadly Waterloo; 
How in an hour the power which gave annuls 

Its gifts, transferring fame as fleeting too ! 

In 'pride of place' here last the eagle flew, 
Then tore, with bjoody talon, the rent plain. 

Pierced by the shaft of banded nations through ; 
Ambition's life and labours all were vain ; 
He wears the shatter'd links of the. world's broken chain. 

Fit retribution ! Gaul may champ the bit. 

And foam in fetters ; — but is earth more free 1 
Did nations combat to make one submit ; 

Or league to teach all kings true sovereignty 1 

What ! shall reviving thraldom again be 
The patch'd-up idol of enlighten'd days'? 

Shall we, who struck the Lion down, shall we 
Pay the Wolf homage ? proffering lowly gaze. 
And servile knees to thrones 1 No ; prove before ye praise !" 

After all our search through large libraries for information 
— after all our study and long reflections on the battles of va- 
rious ages and countries, we have come to the conclusion that 
we cannot give our readers so rich a mental treat, as by lay- 
ing before them the following miseries of war, by the late 
illustrious Channing : 

" In detailing the miseries and crimes of war, there is no 
temptation to recur to unreal or exaggerated horrors. No 
depth of colouring can approach reality. It is lamentable, 
that we need a delineation of the calamities of war, to rouse 
us to exertion. The mere idea of human beings employing 
every power and faculty in the work of mutual destruction, 
ought to send a shuddering through the frame. But, on this 
subject, our sensibilities are dreadfully sluggish and dead. 
Our ordinary sympathies seem to forsake us when war is 
named. The sufferings and death of a single fellow being 
often excite a tender and active compassion ; but we hear, 
without emotion, of thousands enduring every variety of woe 
in war. A single murder in peace thrills through our frames. 
The countless murders of war are heard as an amusing tale. 
The execution of a criminal depresses the mind, and philan- 
thropy is labouring to substitute milder punishments for death. 
But benevolence has hardly made an effort to snatch from 
sudden and untimely death the innumerable victims immo- 
lated on the altar of war. This insensibility demands, that 
the miseries and crimes of war should be placed before us 
with minuteness, with energy, with strong and indignant 
feeling. 

" The miseries of war may be easily conceived from its 



THE CALAMITIES OF WAR. 619 



very nature. By war, we understand the resort of nations 
to force, violence, and the most dreaded methods of destruc- 
tion and devastation. In war, the strength, skill, courage, 
energy, and resources of a whole people, are concentrated for 
the infliction of pain and death. The bowels of the earth are 
explored, the most active elements combined, the resources of 
art and nature exhausted, to increase the power of man in 
destroying his fellow-creatures. 

" Would you learn what destruction man, when thus aided, 
can spread around him? Look then at that extensive region, 
desolate and overspread with ruins ; its forests rent, as if 
blasted by lightning ; its villages prostrated, as by an earth- 
quake ; its fields barren, as if swept by storms. Not long ago, 
the sun shone on no happier spot. But ravaging armies 
prowled over it ; war frowned on it ; and its fruitfulness and 
happiness are fled. Here thousands and ten thousands were 
gathered from distant provinces, not to embrace as brethren, 
but to renounce the tie of brotherhood ; and thousands, in 
the vigour of life, when least prepared for death, were hewn 
down and scattered like chaff before the whirlwind. 

" Repair, my friends, in thought, to a field of recent battle. 
Here are heaps of slain, weltering in their own blood, their 
bodies mangled, their limbs shattered, and almost every ves- 
tige of the human form and countenance destroyed. Here 
are multitudes trodden under foot, and the war-horse has left 
the trace of his hoof in many a crushed and mutilated frame. 
Here are severer sufferers; they live, but live without hope 
or consolation. Justice despatches the criminal with a single 
stroke; but the victims of war, falling by casual, undirected 
blows, often expire in lingering agony, their deep groans mov- 
ing no compassion, their limbs writhing on the earth with 
pain, their lips parched with burning thirst, their wounds 
open to the chilling air, the memory of home rushing on their 
minds, but not a voice of friendship or comfort reaching their 
ears. Amidst this scene of horrors, you see the bird and 
beast of prey gorging themselves with the dead or dying, and 
human plunderers rifling the warm and almost palpitating 
remains of the slain. If you extend your eye beyond the 
immediate field of battle, and follow the track of the victori- 
ous and pursuing army, you see the roads strewed with the 
dead ; you see scattered flocks, and harvests trampled under 
foot, the smoking ruins of cottages, and the miserable inha- 
bitants flying in want and despair; and even yet, the horrors 
of a single battle are not exhausted. Some of the deepest 
pangs which it inflicts, are silent, retired, enduring, to be read 



620 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



in the widow's countenance, in the unprotected orphan, in 
the aged parent, in affection cherishing the memory of the 
slain, and weeping that it could not minister to their last 
pangs. 

" I have asked you to traverse, in thought, a field of battle. 
There is another scene often presented in war, perhaps more 
terrible. I refer to a besieged city. The most horrible pages 
in history, are those which record the reduction of strongly 
fortified places. In a besieged city, are collected all descrip- 
tions and ages of mankind, women, children, the old, the in- 
firm. Day and night, the weapons of death and conflagration 
fly around them. They see the approaches of the foe, the 
trembling bulwark, and the fainting strength of their defend- 
ers. They are worn with famine, and on famine presses pes- 
tilence. At length the assault is made, every barrier is broken 
down, and a lawless soldiery, exasperated by resistance, and 
burning with lust and cruelty, are scattered through the 
streets. The domestic retreat is violated ; and even the house 
of God is no longer a sanctuary. Venerable age is no pro- 
tection, female purity no defence. Is woman spared amidst 
the slaughter of father, brother, husband, and son? — she is 
spared for a fate, .which makes death, in comparison, a merci- 
ful doom. With such heart-rending scenes, history abounds ; 
and what better fruits can you expect from war 1 

" These views are the most obvious and striking which war 
presents. There are more secret influences, appealing less 
powerfully to the senses and imagination, but deeply affecting 
to a reflecting and benevolent mind. — Consider, first, the con- 
dition of those who are immediately engaged in war. The 
suflTerings of soldiers from battle we have seen ; but their suf- 
ferings are not limited to the period of conflict. The whole 
of war is a succession of exposures too severe for human na- 
ture. Death employs other weapons than the sword. It is 
computed that, in ordinary wars, greater numbers perish by 
sickness than in battle. Exhausted by long and rapid marches, 
by unwholesome food, by exposure to storms, by excessive 
labour under a burning sky through the day, and by inter- 
rupted and restless sleep on the damp ground and in the chill- 
ing atmosphere of night, thousands after thousands of the 
young pine away and die. They anticipated that they should 
fall, if to fall should be their lot, in what they called the field 
of honour ; but they perish in the inglorious and crowded 
hospital, surrounded with sights and sounds of woe, far from 
home and every friend, and denied those tender offices which 
sickness and expiring nature require. 



THE CALAMITIES OF WAR. G21 



" Consider, next, the influence of war on the character of 
those who make it their trade. They let themselves for 
slaughter, place themselves instruments, passive machines, in 
the hands of rulers, to execute the bloodiest mandates, with- 
out a thought on the justice of the cause in which they are 
engaged. What a school is this for the human character ! 
From men trained in battle to ferocity, accustomed to the 
perpetration of cruel deeds, accustomed to take human life 
without sorrow or remorse, habituated to esteem an unthink- 
ing courage a substitute for every virtue, encouraged by 
plunder to prodigality, taught improvidence by perpetual 
hazard and exposure, restrained only by an iron discipline, 
which is withdrawn in peace, unfitted by the restless and ir- 
regular career of war for the calm and uniform pursuits of 
ordinary life; from such men, what ought to be expected but 
contempt of human rights and of the laws of C4od ? From 
the nature of his calling, the soldier is almost driven to sport 
with the thought of death, to defy and deride it, and, of 
course, to banish the thought of that retribution to which it 
leads ; and though of all men the most exposed to sudden 
death, he is too often of all men most unprepared to appear 
before his Judge. 

" The influence of war on the community at large, on its 
prosperity, its morals, and its political institutions, though 
less striking than on the soldiery, is yet baleful. How often 
is a community impoverished to sustain a war in which it has 
no interest ! Public burdens are aggravated, whilst the means 
of sustaining them are reduced. Internal improvements are 
neglected. The revenue of the state is exhausted in military 
establishments, or flows through secret channels into the cof- 
fers of corrupt men, whom war exalts to power and office. 
The regular employments of peace are disturbed. Industry 
in many of its branches is suspended. The labourer, ground 
wnth want, and driven to despair by the clamour of his suf- 
fering family, becomes a soldier in a cause which he con- 
demns, and thus the country is drained of its most effective 
population. The people are stripped and reduced, whilst the 
authors of war retrench not a comfort, and often fatten on 
the spoils and woes of their country. 

" The influence of war on the morals of society is also to 
be deprecated. The suspension of industry multiplies want; 
and criminal modes of subsistence are the resource of much 
suffering. Commerce, shackled and endangered, loses its up- 
right and honourable character, and becomes a system of stra- 
tagem and collusion. In war, the moral sentiments of a com- 



622 THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



munity are perverted by the admiration of military exploits. 
The milder virtues of Christianity are eclipsed by the baleful 
lustre thrown round a ferocious courage. The disinterested, 
the benignant, the merciful, the forgiving, those whom Jesus 
has pronounced blessed and honourable, must give place to 
the hero, whose character is stained not only with blood, but 
sometimes with the foulest vices, but all whose stains are 
washed away by victory. War especially injures the moral 
feelings of a people, by making human nature cheap in their 
estimation, and human life of as little worth as that of an 
insect or a brute. 

" War diffuses through a community unfriendly and malig- 
nant passions. Nations, exasperated by mutual injuries, burn 
for each other's humiliation and ruin. They delight to hear 
that famine, pestilence, want, defeat, and the most dreadful 
scourges which Providence sends on a guilty world, are deso- 
lating a hostile community. The slaughter of thousands of 
fellow-beings, instead of awaking pity, flushes them with de- 
lirious joy, illuminates the city, and dissolves the whole 
country in revelry and riot. Thus the heart of man is hard- 
ened. His worst passions are nourished. He renounces the 
bonds and sympathies of humanity. Were the prayers, or 
rather the curses, of warring nations prevalent in heaven, the 
whole earth would long since have become a desert. The 
human race, with all their labours and improvements, would 
have perished under the sentence of universal extermination. 

" But war not only assails the prosperity and morals of a 
community ; its influence on the political condition is threat- 
ening. It arms government with a dangerous patronage, mul- 
tiplies dependants and instruments of oppression, and gene- 
rates a power, which, in the hands of the energetic and aspir- 
ing, endangers a free constitution. War organizes a body of 
men, who lose the feelings of the citizen in the soldier ; whose 
habits detach them from the community ; whose ruling pas- 
sion is devotion to a chief; who are inured, in the camp, to 
despotic sway ; who are accustomed to accomplish their ends 
by force, and to sport with the rights and happiness of their 
fellow-beings; who delight in tumult, adventure, and peril; 
and turn with disgust and scorn from the quiet labours of 
peace. Is it wonderful, that such protectors of a state should 
look with contempt on the weakness of the protected, and 
should lend themselves base instruments to the subversion of 
that freedom which they do not themselves enjoy ? In a com- 
munity, in which precedence is given to the military profes- 
sion, freedom cannot long endure. The encroachments of 



THE CALAMITIES OF WAR. 623 

power at home are expiated by foreign triumphs. The esscn- 
tial interests and rights of the state are sacrificed to a false 
and fatal glory. Its intelligence and vigour, instead of pre- 
senting a bulwark to domestic usurpation, are expended in 
military achievements. Its most active and aspiring citizens 
rush to the army, and become subservient to the power which 
dispenses honour. The nation is victorious, but the recom- 
pense of its toils is a yoke as galling as that which it imposes 
on other communities. 

" Thus, war is to be ranked among the most dreadful cala- 
mities which fall on a guilty world ; and, what deserves con- 
sideration, it tends to multiply and perpetuate itself without 
end. It feeds and grows on the blood which it sheds. The 
passions, from which it springs, gain strength and fury from 
indulgence. The successful nation, flushed by victory, pants 
for new laurels ; whilst the humbled nation, irritated by de- 
feat, is impatient to redeem its honour and repair its losses. 
Peace becomes a truce, a feverish repose, a respite to sharpen 
anew the sword, and to prepare for future struggles. Under 
professions of friendship, lurk hatred and distrust ; and a 
spark suffices to renew the mighty conflagration. When from 
these causes, large military establishments are formed, and a 
military spirit kindled, war becomes a necessary part of policy. 
A foreign field must be found for the energies and passions of 
a martial people. To disband a numerous and veteran sol- 
diery, would be to let loose a dangerous horde on society. 
The bloodhounds must be sent forth on other communities, 
lest they rend the bosom of their own country. Thus war 
extends and multiplies itself No sooner is one storm scat- 
tered, than the sky is darkened with the gathering horrors of 
another. Accordingly, war has been the mournful legacy of 
every generation to that which succeeds it. Every age has 
had its conflicts ; every country has in turn been the seat of 
devastation and slaughter. The dearest interests and rights 
of every nation have been again and again committed to the 
hazards of a game, of all others the most uncertain, and in 
which, from its very nature, success too often attends on the 
fiercest courage and the basest fraud. 

" Such, my friends, is an unexaggerated, and I will add, a 
faint delineation of the miseries of war ; and to all these mise- 
ries and crimes the human race have been continually exposed, 
for no worthier cause, than to enlarge an empire already tot- 
tering under its unwieldy weight, to extend an iron despotism, 
to support some idle pretension, to repel some unreal or exag- 
gerated injury. For no worthier cause, human blood has been 



624 



THE ARMY AND NAVY. 



poured out as water, and millions of rational and immortal 
beings have been driven like sheep to the field of slaughter." 



Wreathe the laurel — 



Fill the cup, the banners wave ! 

Champions of a kingdom's quarrel 

Wait the honours due the brave. 

Give rich gifts — a robe of honour, 

Power and place to him who led — • 
For a nation is the donor — 

Feed him with its orphans' bread ! 
Strew the streets with fragrant blossoms, 

Through them drag the hero's car ; 
Late he trod o'er bleeding bosoms, 

On the crimson'd plains of war. 
Ye whose children, fathers, brothers, 

Pave his fields, be ye its steeds ; 
Widow'd wives and childless mothers, 

Shout ye as the chariot speeds! 

Let each lip be curved with pleasure — 

Let each eye beam bright with glee : 
What are tears, and blood, and treasure, 

Poised against a victory ? 
When a nation's ear, astounded, 

With triumphant paeans rings. 
What are thousands kili'd and wounded ? 

Men were made to die for kings ! 
What though fields, late rich with culture, 

Are by war's sirocco scathed ? 
What though carrion-seeking vulture 

In a sea of gore hath bathed ? 
Blot such trifles from the story 

Of renown so nobly gain'd ; 
Still must bud the tree of glory. 

Though its roots with blood be stain'd ! 

Build a temple to Ambition, 

Base it on an empire's wreck ; 
Ye who bow in meek submission 

At a sceptred despot's beck, 
Search earth's bosom for the slaughter'd, 

And with bones that there lie hid 
Of the millions it has martyr'd. 

Pile the ghastly pyramid ! 
From the days when Northern Alric 

On the Roman eagles trod 
To the era — more chivalric — 

Of the Gallic Demigod — 
Could the harvest of ' the sleepers' 

From Death's garner be restored. 
We should find his mightiest reapers 

Were the battle-axe and sword ! 

But the victors ! — ihey whose madness 

Made the world a type of hell, 
Was it theirs in peace and gladness, 

Mid the wreck they made, to dwell f 
Ask the walls where Sweden's monarch 

Mourn'd Puliowa's overthrow ; 
Ask the rock of Gallia's Anarch; 

Hark! their echoes ihunder — 'No!' 
Conquest's sword is only glorious 

When the blood with which it streams 
(Ransom of a land victorious) 

Nature's charter'd right redeems." 



